Brian's 'Fun' Week
by Hannahfour
Summary: What could possibly go wrong when Brian has to stay home with Guthrie and Heidi while the rest of the family goes away? Especially when he promises them a 'fun' week.
1. Chapter 1

"Why can't we go with you?" I ask Adam as he packs up his suitcase. His suitcase is laying open on his bed and I'm sitting cross-legged next to it watching him pack.

"I already told you why. You and Guthrie have to go to school," he says, as he puts some shirts in his suitcase.

"But so do Daniel, Evan, and Ford. Why do they get to go?"

Adam takes some socks out of his dresser. "I already told you that too. Daniel's band was picked to play at the fairgrounds, Ford is going to help out Evan, and you know why Evan's going." He shoves his socks down to the bottom of his suitcase.

He's right. I do know why Evan's going. He's the reason why everyone is going to Reno. Evan's teacher from his rodeo class picked three of his best students to go with him to the rodeo in Reno. It's this weekend and everyone is going today except for me, Guthrie, and Brian. We have to wait until Friday night to go because of school. It's not fair!

"I forget," I say, "how can we afford all this again?"

He sighs and says, "you didn't forget, I just told you a half hour ago."

"I've never stayed in a hotel before, have I?" I ask.

"It's a _motel_ and, no you haven't." He gets some pants out of his dresser.

"Aren't you worried about leaving the ranch with strangers taking care of all the animals?" I ask him.

He stops putting his pants in his suitcase to look at me. He smiles and says, "Heidi, the Millers aren't strangers. You know we all help each other out when another rancher needs help." He puts his pants in and closes his suitcase.

"But what about the other people that are going to help the Millers? You probably don't know them."

"Would you stop with all the questions?" He smiles and puts his hand on top of my head and messes up my hair. "I trust Mr. Miller to find good, honest, working people to help him."

"Well I don't! They're probably gonna steal stuff from us."

Adam zips up his suitcase and picks it up and sets it down on the floor. He looks at me with his serious look and talks in his serious voice. "Well, if you're that worried about our animals and people stealing our stuff, maybe you, Brian, and Guthrie should stay home. That way you can make sure the animals are well taken care of, and nobody steals our stuff.

I glare at him. "Never mind. I guess it won't matter if they steal all of our stuff. They can steal everything on our whole entire property for all I care."

Adam smiles at me and picks up his suitcase and walks out of his room. I get up off the bed and follow him downstairs. He sets his suitcase on the floor by the front door where there are already 5 bags sitting. Some of the bags are backpacks because we only have two suitcases. Hannah gets one and Adam the other.

"I'm not gonna be good while you're gone," I tell him as I follow him into the kitchen.

"Yes you are." He doesn't even stop to look at me when he says that.

"No I'm not," I tell him.

He sits down at the table and unwraps the turkey sandwich Hannah made him for lunch. "If you're not going to be good, I'll have to ground you when we get back home." He takes a bite of his sandwich.

"For how long?" I ask as I sit down at the table across from him.

"At least a week," he says. "It depends on how bad you are." He smiles at me when he says that.

I glare at him and say, "I don't care how long you ground me for! You can ground for...," I think of a big number in my head, "...a billion, trillion weeks and I still won't be good!"

"We'll see," he says, and then he takes another bite of his sandwich. He stares at me and I glare back. Then he starts to laugh.

"What? Why are you laughing?" I ask.

"I'm laughing because you look so cute sitting there glaring at me."

I fold my arms across my chest and glare even harder at him, but that only makes him laugh more.

"This isn't funny!" I stand up really fast knocking my chair down when I do that. "You're leaving and I don't want you to go!" I start to cry.

He stops laughing and looks at me. "I'm sorry Heidi. I didn't know you felt that way."

I wish I hadn't said that out loud. I try to wipe the tears off my cheeks, but the tears keep falling from my eyes. I feel really embarrassed I said that, so I run out the back door and say, "I hate you!"

That makes me cry even more! I wish I hadn't said that too. I don't hate Adam, I just don't want him to leave! I run down the porch steps and run as fast as I can to the barn, but I stop when I see everyone out there getting stuff ready to go. I don't want them to see me crying so I walk over as slow as I can.

* * *

When I get to the fence I pick up a few pieces of hay that are laying on the ground. I climb up to the top of the fence and sit on it to watch. Guthrie sees me and he walks over. He looks as sad as I feel.

"I wish we could go with them," he says as he climbs up the fence to sit next to me.

"I know. It's not fair!"

The jeep drives up and dirt flies everywhere. Sometimes I wish we had a paved driveway like some of my friends do, but I guess ours is too long. It's not even a driveway, it's more like a road. Brian gets out of the jeep and walks over to us.

"Are you two ready for a fun couple of days?" He asks.

Neither one of us answers him.

"Why do you guys look so sad? Come on, cheer up! We're gonna have fun!" He says.

"Are you gonna let us stay home from school?" Guthrie asks hopefully.

"No," Brian's says.

I glare at Brian with my arms folded across my chest, which is hard to do when you're balancing on a fence. "Then how are we gonna have fun if you're gonna make us go to school?"

"We'll have fun when you come home," he says and he gives us a big smile.

"You're not gonna make us do homework?" I ask.

His smile fades. "Well, you have to do your homework."

"See? Not fun!" Guthrie says.

Brian starts to glare at us. "Listen," he says, "I want to be going to Reno with everyone else right now, but I'm not. I'm staying home to take care of the ranch and you two. So you have a choice, we can either have fun the next couple of days, or I can make sure you don't have any fun at all. Understand?"

I feel like crying, and I'm afraid if I open my mouth to say yes the tears are gonna come out, so I nod my head instead.

"Now, do either of you two know where Adam is?" He asks.

"He's in the kitchen eating his lunch," I tell him as I wipe my eyes.

"Lunch? It's four-thirty. What's he doing eating lunch now?" He asks.

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know, I guess he's just been too busy."

"Where have you been?" Guthrie asks Brian.

"I took Ford, Daniel and Evan into town. Daniel's going to Reno with his band and Evan and Ford are going with Evan's rodeo class. I'm gonna go help Adam pack up. It looks like he could use a hand," Brian says as he runs off towards the house.

We look towards the house and watch Adam coming down the porch steps with a suitcase and a couple of bags in his hands. It looks like he does need some help because one of the bags looks like it's about to drop.

"Guthrie, do you think we could come up with a plan to go with them tonight?" I ask him.

"What kind of plan?"

"Maybe we could hide in the back of the truck," I tell him.

"I think they'd get suspicious when we're not around to say goodbye," he says.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I think for a minute. "What if we say goodbye and then run after the truck while it's going down the driveway and jump in!" That sounds like a good plan to me.

"They'd see us in the mirror," he says.

"Well, you come up with a plan then!" I'm getting frustrated.

"There's no plan to think of. We're stuck here!"

We're both quiet now. It looks like they're almost done packing up the truck.

"Hey you two, get over here!" Crane yells to us and waves us over.

We jump down off the fence and slowly walk over to the truck.

"What?" I ask sadly.

Crane laughs. "Look at you two! You look so sad! Come on, Friday will be here before you know it!" He pulls Guthrie's hat down so it covers his eyes which makes Guthrie laugh. Then he picks me up and swings me around, which makes me laugh. "Good!" He says. "Give me a hug goodbye and I'll see you twerps on Friday in Reno."

We each give him a hug and then Hannah comes over. She hugs both of us at the same time. "I made cookies for you guys to have when you come home from school. Don't eat them all in one day, ok?" She says. We nod. "Good. I'll see you on Friday."

She gives each of us a kiss and gets in the truck. She scoots to the middle and I walk over to the passenger door. "If you let me go I could sit in the middle, and Crane could stay home. That way you guys won't be smushed."

Hannah laughs and Crane messes up my hair. Then he picks me up a few inches off the ground to move me away from the door so he can get in.

"See," I say, "you're gonna be smushed."

"We'll manage," Crane says.

Adam is walking over from the house. He walks up to me and Guthrie and says, "you guys be good for Brian. Remember everything we talked about. Follow all the rules or you're grounded."

"Ok," we both say together.

He crouches down in front of us and we hug him. Guthrie finishes his hug first, but I'm not ready to let go yet. "Bye Heidi," he whispers in my ear. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too," I whisper back. "I don't really hate you. I'm sorry I said that."

"I know. Please be good while I'm gone. It'll make me really happy if you do."

"I'll try my hardest, but I can't make any promises," I whisper.

He squeezes me and says, "ok. I love you."

"I love you to," I tell him.

I keep hugging him until he says, "ok, it's time to let go now."

I laugh and say, "nope! I'm never gonna let go! You have to drive with me hugging you!"

He stands up with me and walks to the driver's side. "Bye," he says as he kisses the top of my head.

I feel Brian taking me off of him so I let go and hug Brian instead. Adam gets in and starts the truck. We all wave to each other and yell bye, and then I watch the truck drive away. We keep waving until we can't see them anymore.

"Now we can have some fun!" Brian says as he walks to the house carrying me and Guthrie following behind.

We'll see about that.

* * *

"Come help me make dinner," Brian says.

We all walk into the kitchen and Brian puts an apron on.

"What are we having?" Guthrie asks.

"Spaghetti."

"Yum!" I say. I like Brian's spaghetti. I like Hannah's too, but Brian's is different. Probably because he puts hot sauce in it. "What are we having with it?"

"French bread and salad," he says.

"Yuck!" Guthrie says. "Why do we have to have salad?"

"Yeah! It's not very _fun_ to have salad!" I tell him.

"How about green beans?" Brian asks.

"Why do we have to have a vegetable?" I ask.

He looks at us and thinks. Then he smiles and says, "I guess we don't have to."

"Yeah!" We both shout and I jump up and down.

"Alright, let's get cooking!" Brian says.

We help Brian make everything. It's fun to cook with Brian because he lets us do lots of the cooking, and he doesn't care if we make a mess. He lets me butter the bread while he gets a beer.

"Why are you drinking that?" Guthrie asks.

"Because I want to," he says.

"Hey Brian, you know what would be really _fun_?" I ask.

"What?"

"If we could have Coke for dinner instead of milk!"

"Yeah, we should have Coke!" Guthrie yells.

"I don't care," Brian says.

Guthrie runs to the fridge and gets two Cokes out.

"No more than two each though, ok?"

I nod as I open my can. "Brian, this is fun!"

We finish making dinner and sit down at the table to eat. It's weird having only three of us at the table. We try to get Brian to let us watch tv while we eat but he says no. He tells us we have to do our homework after dinner and we both groan.

"That's not fun!" I remind him.

"You gotta do it. I don't want Adam getting mad at me," he says.

I laugh as I think about that. "Do you think he'd ground you?" I ask.

"Eat," he says.

When we're finished we put our dishes in the sink and Guthrie and I get ready to wash them, but Brian says we don't have to wash them tonight. He says since there's only three of us we don't need to wash them after every meal. Sounds good to me.

"What's for dessert?" I ask.

"Why don't you have ice cream while you do your homework," he suggests.

"Ok!" We both yell.

We run into the living room to get our homework while Brian dishes us some ice cream. He brings it out to us and puts it on the coffee table. He sits on the couch and drinks another beer. I think this is his third or fourth one. We sit on the floor at the coffee table to do our homework. I pull out my math homework from my folder and get up to get a pencil.

"Will you help me Brian?" I ask as I get a pencil from the big desk.

"Sure. What do you need help with?"

I sit back down and ask, "what's nine times four?"

"Uh, thirty-six.

I write that down. "What's nine times eight?"

"Seventy-two."

I write that down. "What's...,"

"You're not supposed to do it _for_ her!" Guthrie says.

"He's not! He's helping me!"

"Ok, but if Adam or Hannah or Crane were here, they wouldn't be _telling_ you the answers," he says.

"You know what would help us do our homework better?" I ask Brian.

"What?"

"If we listened to music," I say.

"Yeah!" Guthrie yells. "Can we?"

"Sure." He gets up and turns the radio on.

"Louder!" Guthrie yells.

Brian turns it up a little more and says, "that's loud enough."

"Brian, what's six times seven?"

"No more _help_," he says.

"Aw!" I groan.

"Sorry, but I'm tired. It's been a busy day today and I'm gonna have an even busier day tomorrow. I'm gonna take a little nap."

"That's not fun!" I tell him.

"When you're done with your homework I'm sure you two can find something _fun_ to do," he says as he settles down on the couch and closes his eyes.

"What can we do?" I ask.

"Anything you want, as long as you don't bug me," he says with his eyes closed.

"I think for fun we should tie Brian to a chair so we don't have to go to school!" Guthrie says while laughing. I agree!

"I heard that," he says. "Do your homework and let me get my beauty sleep."

We laugh at that. I finish my homework by doing the problems I know and then guessing on the ones I don't. Brian is snoring pretty loud now. I'm surprised he can sleep with the music on. When we finish our homework I ask Guthrie what we should do.

"I don't know," he says.

We look at Brian and then look around the room.

"Hey, we could eat more ice cream, and find the cookies Hannah left for us and eat those," I suggest.

"Yeah, we should have some more Coke too."

We get up and run into the kitchen. Guthrie gets the Coke out and I look for the cookies. As I'm looking I find a big bag of M&M's.

"Hey, let's make sundaes! We can put ice cream in a bowl, and put all kinds of stuff on it, and then pour Coke all over it!" I yell.

"Yeah!" Guthrie agrees.

We dish some ice cream in our bowls and pour the M&M's on it. Then we crumble up some of the cookies I found and sprinkle some on top. We get sprinkles and chocolate chips and butterscotch chips and chocolate syrup and whipped cream and peanuts and pour it all on. Then we pour Coke all over it. When we're done making it we have two big giant messy sundaes. We take them out to the living room and sit on the couch that's opposite Brian. He's still snoring.

"I wonder if Brian would like us to make him a sundae too," Guthrie says.

"Maybe. I think all he really wants to do is sleep though. I bet he'll let us stay up past our bedtime."

"Only if we don't bug him. And by _we_ I mean _you_!" He says while laughing.

I laugh back and flick his hat off his head. I look at Brian sleeping and I get a great idea.

"You know what would be really _fun_?" I ask Guthrie.

"What?"

"It would be _fun_ if we painted Brian's fingernails!" I tell him. "I saw Hannah paint hers earlier today."

Guthrie laughs. "That _would_ be fun!"

"I'll go get Hannah's nail polish." I run upstairs to Adam and Hannah's bedroom. Once I'm in there I look on top of Hannah's dresser for her nail polish. She has about ten bottles up there. I stand on my tiptoes and I pick out a red one and a pink one and run back downstairs with them. I give the pink one to Guthrie.

"You paint that hand, and I'll paint this one," I whisper.

He nods at me and we start painting. I'm not very good at this so a lot of the skin around his nails gets painted too. I look over at Guthrie and he's not very good at it either.

"This stuff stinks!" Guthrie whispers.

"I know!" I whisper back.

When we're done we look at his hands and laugh quietly. Now they just have to dry. We go back to eating our sundaes.

"Now what do you want to do?" I ask Guthrie.

He shrugs his shoulders. "Let's get the whipped cream and squirt it into our mouths. Then we can squirt some on Brian!"

Sounds like fun to me. Guthrie runs into the kitchen to get it and when he comes back out I open my mouth and he squirts some in. Then I do the same to him.

"Where should we squirt it on Brian?" I ask.

"We could give him a mustache," Guthrie says.

That gives me an idea. "What if we drew a mustache on him with my markers!"

"Yeah!"

I run upstairs to my room and get my markers. When I come back downstairs I give Guthrie the black marker and I take the red one. "You draw the mustache," I whisper, "I'll draw a heart on his cheek."

We giggle and get started. We press really lightly so Brian doesn't wake up. All of a sudden he takes his hand and rubs at his face. He opens his eyes a little bit and says, "what do you want?"

"Nothing," Guthrie says quietly.

Brian closes his eyes again and Guthrie and I smile at each other. We wait until he starts snoring again.

"Why do you think he's so tired and not waking up?" I ask quietly.

"I think it's the beer. Remember, it makes people tired sometimes."

We finish our drawings and look at his face and laugh quietly. He looks so funny! We put the markers down and pick up our bowls of ice cream. We eat while we watch Brian sleep and we laugh at him. We all jump when the phone rings. Even Brian jumps.

"I'll get it!" Both Guthrie and I yell. I race to the phone but he beats me. "Turn the radio off!"

"Hello?" He says.

I watch Brian waking up. He looks really tired while he sits up and yawns and stretches.

"It's Adam," Guthrie says.

"Let me talk! Let me talk!" I yell while jumping up and down.

"Hold on," he says. "I'm talking first."

"WHAT THE H**L!" We hear Brian yell. We look at him and he's looking at his fingernails.

We laugh and Guthrie says, "yeah, that was Brian. I think he's mad about something." Guthrie laughs into the phone. "Adam wants to talk to you Brian," Guthrie says, and he holds out the phone to Brian. He can't stop laughing and neither can I.

Brian glares at us as he walks to the phone and grabs it out of Guthrie's hand. "Yeah!" He yells into it. "Yeah, I got it all under control, big brother," he says. He keeps glaring at us and mouths, "I'm gonna kill you!" We laugh even harder. "I'll write it down," he says. I watch him write a phone number down and then he says, "yeah, here she is."

He pushes the phone at me and I laugh while I take it out of his hand.

"Hi Adam!" I yell.

"Hi. What's so funny?" He asks.

"Brian! He looks funny!" I can't stop laughing.

"Why does he look funny?"

"I don't know, he just does. He's standing right here shaking his head."

"Are you doing what he tells you to do?" Adam asks.

"Yep, I'm doing _everything_ he tells me to do," and I start laughing again.

"Why do I get the feeling you're up to something?"

"I don't know why you would think that, 'cause we're not."

"Yeah right," he says. "Let me talk to Brian again."

"He wants to talk to you again," I tell Brian and he yanks the phone out of my hands while I laugh even harder.

"Yeah, they're being good," he says while glaring at us. "It's nothing I can't handle." There's a pause before Brian says, "ok bye. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Then he hangs up the phone.

"What do you guys think you're doing!" He yells. We laugh at him because he doesn't know we drew on his face yet. He looks at our ice cream bowls. "What the heck is all that? What have you guys been doing?"

"You should see your face," Guthrie says and we laugh some more.

"Why? What's wrong with my face?" He asks.

"You should go look in the mirror," I tell him.

Brian runs upstairs to the bathroom and then he yells, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

I yell upstairs as loud as I can, "you were right Brian! This _is_ gonna be a fun week!" And Guthrie and I bust out laughing again.


	2. Chapter 2

"You guys better hope this stuff washes off!" Brian yells from the bathroom. Guthrie and I are still laughing. We can hear the water from the sink running and Brian yells, "it's NOT coming off!"

We stop laughing and stare at each other. "Uh-oh," Guthrie says.

"What's on my face!" Brian yells from the hallway.

We look up at him and I quietly say, "markers."

"What!"

"Markers," I say louder.

"How come it's not coming off?!" He yells.

"I don't know," I tell him.

"How do I get this stuff off my fingernails?!" He yells.

"Hannah uses special stuff," I say.

"Get up here!" He yells. "I can't hear you!"

Guthrie and I look at each other. "I don't want to go up there," I tell him.

"I don't either," he says.

"Get up here!" He yells again.

We slowly walk upstairs and stand in the hallway outside the bathroom.

"How am I supposed to get this stuff off?" He asks.

"I don't know," I tell him. "Hannah uses special stuff for her nails. She puts the stuff on cotton balls."

"Well, go get it! Guthrie, go get the box of markers. Maybe it says how to get it off on the box."

I go into Adam and Hannah's room to look for the polish remover while Guthrie runs downstairs to get my box of markers. I can't find the remover on Hannah's dresser and I don't know where else it would be. It's supposed to be with her nail polish. I walk back to the bathroom where Brian is trying to scrub the marker off his face.

"Did you find it?" He asks when he sees me.

"No."

Guthrie runs upstairs and says, "I've been reading the back of the marker box and it doesn't say how to remove the marker from your skin."

"They should make washable markers!" Brian yells. He keeps on scrubbing his face but it's not coming off. He looks at us. He doesn't look as mad as he was before.

"See," Guthrie says, "isn't this fun Brian?" We kind of smile up at him.

He glares down at us and says, "yeah, this is loads of fun!" He picks at his nails but he gets frustrated with that because it's not coming off fast enough.

"I'm sorry," I say to him.

"Me too," Guthrie says.

"I'm gonna have to call Hannah to find out how to get this stuff off." He dries his hands and face and runs downstairs to the big desk where he wrote the phone number down. We follow closely behind him.

He looks at the number and dials. He glares at us while he's waiting for someone to answer. When they finally do he says, "hey, put Hannah on the phone." Then he says, "because I have to ask her a question!" After a little bit he says, "how do I get fingernail polish off?" Then he glares specifically at me and says, "she can't find it!" He moves the talking part of the phone away from his mouth and asks me, "did you look on top of her dresser where the nail polish is?"

I nod my head. "It's not there," I tell him.

"She says it's not there." Then he listens to Hannah and says. "Yeah. Ok. What about marker? How do I get that off?" He's quiet for a minute and then he glares at us again. "No, Hannah stop talking, it's not on the table, it's on my face! How do I get it off?" He says loudly. Then he says, "no, I don't know where that is." He listens again and says, "ok, rubbing alcohol for both things. Got it!" He listens again and then looks at us and says, "which one of you wants to talk to Adam?" We both scoot back away from the phone that he's holding out to us.

Then Guthrie says, "wait, I'll talk to him. Heidi might says something that'll make him mad."

"No I won't!" I yell even though I know he's right.

Guthrie takes the phone from Brian and listens. He says yes a few times and then ok. Then he hands me the phone. "He wants to talk to you now."

I take the phone from him and hold it up to my ear. "Yes?"

"Stay out of our room," Adam says.

"Ok."

"You guys should be in bed now, it's a school night," he says.

"We're helping Brian right now," I tell him.

"It sounds like you've helped him enough. Go to bed now."

"Ok."

"Goodnight," he says.

"Goodnight," I say back and then I hang up the phone.

Brian is already upstairs looking for whatever Hannah told him to use. "Get ready for bed!" Brian yells down to us.

"Ok!" We both yell and we run upstairs.

As I pass by the bathroom I look at Brian. He's got a bottle of the stinging stuff Hannah puts on cuts and scrapes.

"Why are you using that?" I ask.

"Because that's what Hannah told me to use. Go get ready for bed."

"Does it sting?" I ask.

"No. Go get ready for bed."

"Are you gonna tuck me in?" I ask him.

He looks at me and glares. "I don't know. It depends on how long it takes me to get all this off."

"I can't go to sleep if you don't tuck me in," I remind him.

"Go get ready for bed."

"Will you...," I start to say.

"Heidi! Stop talking and go get ready for bed!" He yells.

Guthrie comes out of his room with his pajamas on and stands with me in front of the bathroom door.

"What do you want?" Brian asks him.

"I need to brush my teeth," he says.

Brian sighs and comes out of the bathroom while rubbing a cotton ball on his fingernail. It looks like the polish is coming off, but slowly. I go to my room to get my pajamas. I turn my little pink lamp on that sits on top of my dresser and open a drawer. I pull out my horse pajamas and as I'm shutting the drawer I look at the doll sitting on top of my dresser.

She's a pretty doll and she's fancy. Hannah says she's porcelain. Guthrie thinks she looks scary. He says her eyes follow him whenever he moves across my room. I look at her now and she looks a tiny bit scary to me. I never thought about her being scary until now. I close my door and put my pajamas on. I look at the doll and put my pajamas on faster because now she's really starting to scare me. When I'm dressed I quickly open my door and run down to the bathroom.

"Brian, can I sleep in the boy's room tonight?" I ask him. He's still in the bathroom getting the polish off his nails. He comes out into the hallway so I can brush my teeth.

"Sure, I don't care. Just remember it's a school night and you have to get up in the morning, so don't stay up too late talking."

"Ok! Thanks Brian." I put toothpaste on my toothbrush. "Brian? I'm sorry we drew on your face and painted your nails."

He looks at me and smiles. "I know, I have to admit it was a pretty good prank. I shouldn't have taken that nap. Remind me not to go to sleep around you two when it's just the three of us!" He laughs and I laugh too. I start to brush my teeth and Brian says, "just remember, what comes around, goes around." I look at him and he smiles at me. Oh no! Brian is the king of pranks! He taught me and Guthrie everything we know about pranking. "If I were you, "he says, "I'd sleep with one eye open."

I finish brushing my teeth and slowly walk to the boys' room. Guthrie's already in bed on one of the top bunks. I climb up on the other bunk bed.

"Guthrie, Brian's gonna get us back."

Guthrie puts his book down and says, "oh no! I didn't even think about that, but you're right, he is!"

"I know, he just told me, 'what comes around, goes around'. What do you think he's gonna do?" I ask.

"I don't know, but I'm sure we'll find out tomorrow."

Brian comes in the room and I can see he doesn't have marker on his face anymore. "Did all the nail polish come off?" I ask him.

He shakes his head no and holds his hands up for us to see. "I'm still working on it," he says. "I came in to tuck you guys in. Do you want me to read you a story?"

"No!" We both yell. "_Tell_ us a story!" Brian is the best at telling stories about him and my brothers when they were little.

He sits down on a bottom bunk. "Ok, how about I tell you the story of the prank I pulled on Adam after he drew on my face with a pen."

"Yeah!" Guthrie yells. "But tell us how Adam drew on you first!"

"Ok. I think Adam was twelve and I was eleven. I was sleeping on the bottom bunk and Adam was on top. Well, some time during the night Adam thought it would be funny if he drew on my face with a ballpoint pen. When I woke up in the morning and went downstairs to eat breakfast everyone started laughing at me."

"Who's _everyone_?" I ask.

"Mom, Dad, Adam, Crane, and I'm not sure if Daniel was there. He was a baby I think. So I'm standing there in the kitchen with everyone pointing at me and laughing. Mom told me to go look in the mirror, so I raced upstairs. Adam drew a mustache, a beard, and these big long eyelashes!"

Guthrie and I laugh.

"I was so mad I raced back downstairs and told Adam I was gonna kill him. I chased him around the table until Dad stopped me and held me back. Adam was laughing the whole time. Mom told me I better go wash my face because I had to leave for school soon."

"It was a school day? Did it all wash off?" Guthrie asks.

"I'm getting to that," Brian says. "So I'm in the bathroom scrubbing the pen off my face with a washcloth and it _won't_ come off!"

That makes us laugh even harder.

"Mom tried to help me, and even she couldn't get it off in time. The pen wasn't as dark as it was before I tried to wash it, but you could still see it. I had to go to school like that!"

"Oh my gosh! That must've been embarrassing!" I yell.

"It was!"

"Did it ever come off?" Guthrie asks.

"Yeah, when I got home from school mom helped me wash it off with some sort of special soap she bought at the store."

"Did Adam get in trouble?" I ask.

"He had to go to bed early that night, but he thought it was worth it."

"How did you get him back?" Guthrie asks.

Brian smiles and says, "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"What?!" I yell.

"No!" Guthrie yells. "Please tell us!"

"Oh, you'll know soon enough," Brian says.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"It means that's how he's gonna get us back!" Guthrie says.

"Oh."

Brian gets up and smiles and says, "see, I told you this was gonna be a _fun_ week." Guthrie and I both groan. "Well, goodnight guys. Don't stay up too late talking, remember, you have to go to school tomorrow. I'll turn the alarm on for you." He does that and then he kisses Guthrie goodnight while Guthrie shakes his head away and says no while he laughs. Then he comes over to me and steps up on the bottom bunk so he can lean over and kiss me goodnight on the forehead. I let him because I like being tucked in still and getting kissed goodnight.

"Goodnight," we say to him as he turns off the light and shuts the door.

"No!" I yell.

The door opens back up and Brian turns the light on again. "Sorry Heidi, I forgot." I always sleep with my little pink lamp on and I 'never' sleep with the door closed. Brian walks in and says, "do you want the lamp over here turned on?" He asks as he turns on the lamp next to my bunk.

"Yes. Don't forget to leave the door open," I remind him.

"Ok, goodnight," he says. "Oh, and don't worry, I won't get you back tonight." I can hear him laughing a little as he walks out into the hall.


	3. Chapter 3

Guthrie and I have been up for a while now. We've talked about all kinds of stuff but the most important thing we talked about was how Brian was going to get us back.

"What do you think he's going to do?" I ask Guthrie.

"I don't know. He might put hot sauce in our breakfast or lunch. I just hope however he gets us back he does it soon so we don't have to worry about it."

"Me too," I say. I look at the clock. "Guthrie it's 1:30 do you think we should go to sleep now?"

"Yeah, but I'm not tired at all! It's probably because of all the Cokes we had."

"Hannah says if you have too many sodas and candy before bed it's harder to go to sleep," I tell him. "She says there's too much sugar in all that stuff." I'm quiet for a while and then I ask, "what do you think everyone's doing in Reno right now?"

"Sleeping," Guthrie says.

"You don't think they're out at a bar?"

"Maybe. Not Evan or Ford though. I bet it's fun staying in a motel," Guthrie says.

"Yeah, I can't wait to go." All of a sudden I feel really tired. I yawn and close my eyes and fall asleep.

* * *

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I groan and yell, "turn it off! Turn it off!"

"I'm trying! Guthrie yells back.

I cover my head with my pillow but I can still hear the beeping. I feel like crying. I'm so tired and I don't want to get up. "Make the beeping stop!" I yell through my pillow.

Finally it stops and Brian says, "get up Heidi!"

"No," I groan, "I'm too tired."

"Tough luck. Get up before I drag you out of bed." He says. He's not yelling and he doesn't sound mad, but he's talking in his serious voice.

"No, you can't do that. I'm still sleeping."

I feel him pull me to the side of the bed and then drag me over the side into his arms. "It's time to get up. I don't want you to be late for school."

I yawn and put my arms around his neck and lay my head on his shoulder as he carries me out to the hall and down to my room. He puts me on my bed and I lay down.

"No," he says, "get up." He pulls me up so I'm sitting on my bed with my eyes closed. "What time did you guys go to sleep?" He asks.

I shrug my shoulders and say, "late."

"Well, unless you want me to dress you myself...,"

"No way!" I yell.

"Then I suggest you get up and start moving."

I groan and stand up.

"Get dressed and come downstairs for breakfast," Brian says, and then he closes my door on his way out.

* * *

"Guthrie, what time did you guys go to sleep last night?" Brian asks as he sets a plate of eggs and toast in front of me.

"One-thirty," Guthrie tells him.

Brian groans. "No wonder why you guys look dead to the world. Finish eating quickly or you going to be late for school."

All I can do is stare at my plate because I'm so tired and I'm not that hungry.

"Eat!" Brian says. "Come on, I'm not fooling around. You can't miss the bus because I have a lot of work to do."

"I thought the Millers were helping," Guthrie says.

"They are, but not until later. Even with their help I still have to do my work. Besides, I've got to work harder because this is our ranch and they're going to be taking care of everything after we leave Friday night."

I eat half of what's on my plate and tell Brian I'm done. He hands us our lunches and leads us to the front door.

"We didn't brush our teeth," Guthrie says as Brian starts pushing us out the door.

"You can brush them when you get home," he says.

"Hannah's not gonna like that," I tell Brian.

"Well, Hannah's not here, is she?"

"Nope!" I say. "Hannah kisses us before we leave too."

"You're not kissing me!" Guthrie yells and he runs down the porch steps.

Brian laughs and looks down at me and says, "be good at school today twerp." He kisses the top of my head.

"I'm always good at school," I tell him and I give him a hug.

"Yeah right!" He laughs and pushes me towards the steps. I run down them and try to catch up with Guthrie.

"Wait!" I yell. "Guthrie, wait!" I run but he's running to so I can't catch up. After a while I get tired of running and walk instead. I'm so tired I could just lay here on the side of the road and sleep. I wonder if my teacher will let me put my head down and sleep during class today.

* * *

My day at school isn't going so well. My best friend Denise is absent and I already had to stay in at the first recess for talking back to my teacher. Math is my least favorite subject and that's what we're doing now. I put my head down on my desk and close my eyes. I don't get to do that for very long because I hear the clicking of my teacher's high heels walking towards my desk.

"Heidi," she says, "sit up please."

I sit up and say, "I don't feel good Mrs. Wilson."

She feels my forehead. "You don't feel warm," she says.

I put my hand on my throat. "It's my throat. It's killing me."

"Open your mouth and let me take a look." I do that and she says, "it doesn't look red to me."

"What are you a doctor?!" I ask. Darn, I should've just said that in my head. I hear the kids in my class laughing and now Mrs. Wilson is glaring at me so I put my head back down on my desk and groan.

"I don't care for your attitude today. You can go finish your math in the office. I'll call to let them know you're coming."

I sigh and pick up my math paper and get up. I slowly walk to the door and once I'm outside I decide to get a drink of water before going to the office. I walk to the drinking fountain and stop to watch the bigger kids out at their recess. They're the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. They don't play on the swings and stuff like I do, the girls hang out and talk, while the boys play football. I look around on the field to see if I can see Guthrie, but instead I see that mean bully, Gary.

I'm not afraid of Gary. I'm really good at fighting because my brothers taught me how, but Gary kept on bugging me a lot so Adam told the principal he needed to do something about it. Now Gary's not allowed to come anywhere near me or he'll get expelled.

Gary sees me staring at him so I smile and wave at him. He glares back. I get my drink and then wave again and head towards the office. I wonder if they'll let me sleep. Probably not, especially since I have this math paper to work on. That gives me an idea. I can't do the math if I don't have the math paper. I crumple it up and throw it in the trash can.

I open the office door and say hi to the secretary. She smiles at me and points to a small table where kids can sit to do their work when they get sent to the office. I sit down and put my head down on the table. Now maybe I can get some sleep.

"Heidi," the secretary says, "Mrs. Wilson said she was sending you with some work to do while you're in here."

I look over at her and say, "she must've forgotten to give it to me."

"Ahem!" I hear from behind me. I'd know that voice anywhere. It's the principal, Mr. Brick.

I turn around and look at him. "Hi," I say quietly.

"Did Mrs. Wilson give you some work to do?" He asks.

Darn! Why does he have to get involved. When you get sent to the office to do work, the secretary takes care of it, _not_ the principal.

I look at him and wave my hands in the air for him to see. "Nope."

He glares at me. "I'll just make a phone call and find out. You seem to have a habit of losing things on your way to the office."

He's right about that. "Ok," I tell him, "you can ask her, but she's gonna say she didn't send any work with me." I lay my head back down on the table while he goes in his office to make a phone call. I hope my teacher doesn't answer the phone.

It doesn't take long before he's back and telling me to come into his office. I follow him in and he sits at his desk and I sit in the chair across from him.

"Your teacher said she sent some math work with you. Where is it?"

I shrug my shoulders.

He sighs and says, "Heidi, I'm not going to play this game with you today. Your teacher says you've been rude all morning so I'm just going to call home and have Adam come pick you up."

That makes me smile. "You can't," I tell him.

"Yes I can, and I will!" He says that a little angrily and he picks up the phone.

"No, I'm mean you can't because he's not home. He's in Reno," I say while smiling. "He'll be home next week."

He sets the phone down. "Then I'll just call Brian, or Crane."

"They're in Reno too. So is Hannah. My whole family is!" I'm smiling pretty big now.

He glares at me. "Then I'll call whoever it is that's taking care of you while they're gone."

"You can't. Guthrie's taking care of me."

"You expect me to believe Adam left you and Guthrie home alone while the rest of your family went to Reno?"

"Yes," I tell him. "Adam said we had to go to school, so we had to stay home. He said all we have to do is get on the bus. He's coming to get us on Friday."

Mr. Brick picks up the phone again and dials.

"Who are you calling?" I ask.

"Adam."

"Ok but I told you, he's not home. How do you know you're dialing the right number? You didn't even look it up."

He glares at me. "I have the McFadden number memorized."

I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing. He must've read my mind.

"That's not a good thing." He says while glaring at me.

He keeps waiting for someone to answer the phone. I hope Brian's outside working and not inside eating lunch. Mr. Brick waits for a while and then hangs up the phone.

"See, I told you. Guthrie's watching me."

"I'm going to keep trying. Go sit at the table out there and I'll have someone from your class bring you some work. That way it won't get lost on the way here."

I get up and go out to the main part of the office. I sit down at the little table and put my head down to think. I can't get in trouble for this, can I? All I did was lie. I groan. Of course I'm gonna get in trouble for this.

I'm in the office for the rest of the day. Mr. Brick never got a hold of Brian so he's sending me home on the bus. "Give this note to Adam when you get home," he says as he hands me an envelope.

Well that'll be easy for me to do since he's not home. I'll just have to give it to him when he's home. I leave the office and run over to my bus.

* * *

"We're home!" I yell when I run through the front door. Guthrie and I run into the kitchen to say hi to Brian, but he's not there. "Brian! We're home!" I yell.

"I wonder where he is?" Guthrie says.

We look around for the cookies until we remember we ate them all last night. We sit down at the kitchen table and Guthrie says, "I miss Hannah."

"Why? Because there's no cookies to eat?" I ask while smiling at him.

"No, because usually she's home to say hi to us when we get home."

"Yeah, you're right. I miss her too. We should go find Brian," I tell him.

"Ok. First tell me what's in that envelope you've been carrying."

I look at the envelope in my hand. It has Adam's first and last name on it. "It's a note for Adam."

"What does it say?" Guthrie asks.

I shrug my shoulders.

"Did you get in trouble at school?"

"I guess so. I was mean to my teacher and I kinda told Mr. Brick all our family was in Reno and you were taking care of me."

Guthrie laughs. "That's funny! Did he believe you?"

"No, but Brian didn't answer the phone so I got away with it."

"For now," Guthrie says. "Are you gonna show Brian the note?"

"No. The note's for Adam," I say.

"If I were you I'd give it to Brian."

"You're probably right. Where do you think he is? We're not supposed to be home alone anymore."

"Let's go look outside," Guthrie says and we run out the back door.

* * *

It seems like we've looked everywhere for Brian and we can't find him. "Brian!" I yell. "Brian! Where are you!"

"He's gotta be around here somewhere. The jeep's still here," Guthrie says. "There he is," Guthrie says. I look over to the pasture where Guthrie's pointing. Brian is riding his horse over to the barn.

We run to the barn and wait for him. Guthrie climbs the fence and sits on top of it. I'm mad so I fold my arms across my chest and glare at Brian riding towards the barn. When he gets here and gets off his horse I stomp over to him.

"You're supposed to be _home_ when _we_ get home!" I yell at him.

He turns and looks at me and laughs. "You look mad. What's wrong short stuff?"

"Where were you!" I yell.

Brian laughs and starts taking the saddle off his horse. "I'm sorry. I lost track of time."

"What! You can't lose track of time! You're supposed to be watching us! I'm gonna tell on you!"

Guthrie's laughing really hard now and so is Brian. I stomp my foot and yell, "why are you laughing? This isn't funny!"

Brian smiles at me and says, "actually, it is pretty funny. You're acting like a little firecracker right now. You're exploding all over the place."

"I am not!" I yell and I stomp up to him and bring my leg back ready to kick him, but he stops me. He picks me up and throws me over his shoulder so I'm upside down. "Put me down!" I yell.

"Nope. Come on Guthrie, let's go find those cookies Hannah left for us to eat." He starts walking towards the house.

"We already ate them all," Guthrie tells him.

"All of them?" He asks. He moves me around so he's carrying me right side up now and I put my arms around his neck.

"Yep," I say. "We ate them last night while you were sleeping."

"Well let's go see if we can find something else to eat," Brian says.

"I think we ate all the good stuff last night," Guthrie says.

"I'm never going to sleep around you guys again. What else did you do last night?" He asks.

"Nothing," I tell him. "But I have to tell you, you're not doing such a good job watching us so far."

"Is that so?" Brian smiles at me as he puts me down so I can walk up the porch steps.

"Nope. You fell asleep last night and you weren't here when we came home."

Brian hangs up his jacket as we walk in the front door. "How about I make it up to you?"

"How?" Guthrie asks.

"Why don't we go into town tonight for dinner. We could eat at Marie's."

"Really?" I ask. That would be so much fun! We never get to eat out!

"Yep, now let's go see if we can find a snack," he says and we follow him into the kitchen.

* * *

"What's this?" Brian asks as he picks up the letter from my principal.

"That's a letter for Adam," I tell him.

"I can see that," he says. "Who's it from and what does it say?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. The principal just gave me this envelope and told me to give it to Adam, so I said I would."

Brian looks at me like he doesn't believe me.

"It's true. That's what he said. I told him Adam wasn't home, but he didn't seem to care."

"Did you get in trouble at school today?" Brian asks.

"I thought we were supposed to be finding a snack," I remind him.

"Yeah," Guthrie says, "I'm hungry."

"In a minute," Brian says. "Heidi, tell me what happened at school today."

I look up at him and say, "I might've asked my teacher if she was a doctor."

Guthrie laughs until Brian tells him to be quiet. "Why would you ask her that?"

I shrug my shoulders. "She didn't like that so she sent me to the office."

"So that's what this note is about?"

"Maybe you should open it and find out," I tell him.

"Or I could open it when I talk to Adam on the phone tonight and read it to him," Brian suggests.

"No please don't do that! Please can you just open it now?"

He opens it and reads it. I watch him closely to see if he gets mad. It doesn't look like he is, it kinda looks like he wants to smile. When he's done reading it he looks down at me.

"This note says you were rude to your teacher, you lost your work on the way to the office and you said Guthrie was taking care of you this week when Mr. Brick tried to call home." Then he stares at me like he's waiting for me to say something.

After a while I finally ask, "are you mad at me?" When he doesn't answer right away I say, "Brian I was so tired this morning. All I wanted to do was sleep at school and they wouldn't let me. Are you gonna tell Adam?" He looks like he's thinking about that.

"No. I guess I'm the parent this week so I'm not going to bother Adam with it. I'll just sign this letter and you take it to school tomorrow."

That makes me really happy. I run at Brian and give him a big hug. "Thank you!"

He crouches down so we can see eye-to-eye. "No more goofing off at school. Understand?"

I nod my head and hug him some more.

* * *

After we ate a snack, Guthrie and I did our chores. Brian told us as soon as we're done we're going into town. We're so excited we finish our chores as fast as we can and race back to the house.

"We're done!" We yell when we burst through the door.

Brian is over by the big desk talking on the phone. He tells us to be quiet. We sit down on the couch to listen. Then a horrible thought occurs to me. What if that's Adam and he's telling him about school! I listen carefully.

He's smiling and he says a whole bunch of yeses into the phone until he says, "ok, I'll meet you there. Six o'clock at Marie's. Bye." He hangs up the phone.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Who was that?" Guthrie asks.

"Yeah, who was that?" I ask. "Who are we eating dinner with?"

Brian looks at us and smiles. "Just someone."

"A girl?" I tease.

"Yeah, I bet it's your _girlfriend_," Guthrie says and we both laugh.

"No, I don't have a girlfriend."

"Yeah right!" Guthrie says. "Can we go now?"

"Hey, if we're meeting someone at Marie's at six, why are we going into town now?" I ask.

"I've got some shopping to do. Get your jackets and let's go."

Guthrie and I grab our jackets and run out to the jeep.

* * *

When we get into town Brian parks in front of the General Store and we go inside. Guthrie and I run to the candy isle while Brian goes to the back of the store.

"Go see if Brian will give us money," I tell Guthrie and he runs off.

I look at the gum and pick up a pack of bubble gum and someone grabs it out of my hand.

"Hey!" I yell. I turn around and stare right at that dumb bully, Gary's face! "Give that back and get away from me!"

Gary smiles at me and says, "we're not at school now so I can bug you all I want!"

I'm not scared of Gary. I've even beat him up before, but I'm really afraid of his older brother Rick. He's really mean. I look around and it looks like Gary's by himself.

I push Gary away from me and he pushes me back. "Why do you always have to pick on me? Can't you find any boys to beat up, you have to pick on a girl?"

"You're an ugly girl!" He yells.

I smile at him and punch him right in the face. He's not expecting that so he falls backwards into the shelf behind him with all the chips on it. He yells and chip bags fly all over the place. I look around for Guthrie but he's not back yet. I don't even see a worker around either. I feel someone grab my arm and spin me around. It's Gary's brother Rick! I scream and try to get away because he's hurting my arm, but I can't break free. Then I see Guthrie coming.

"Guthrie! Help! Tell Brian the skunk's here! The skunk!" That's my code word for my family when I see Rick. They're supposed to come help when I say that.

Guthrie runs to the back of the store. I keep trying to break free but I can't.

"Hold still McFadden!" He yells. "Gary's gonna hit _you_ now!"

"No he's not!" I hear Brian yell. Guthrie and Brian are running towards me. "Let go of her right now!"

Rick lets go and I run to Brian. Now the store worker is here. He looks at Gary and Rick and yells, "I thought I told you boys to stay out of my store!" He looks at the chip mess on the floor. "Get out of here before I call the Sheriff!"

Rick and Gary leave and Brian goes after them. He's pretty mad and when he gets mad he explodes. Adam says me and Brian are a lot alike. When we get mad we explode first and think later. He's outside yelling at them and Guthrie and I don't know what to do. Usually one of our brothers is here to hold him back.

"He's not gonna punch them, is he?" I ask Guthrie.

"No, he won't punch a kid," Guthrie says.

"Heidi, Guthrie, you two clean this mess up and I'll go out and help Brian calm down," the store worker says.

We can see Brian in front of the store's door still yelling and all we can do is stand and watch. Then we see Brian punch someone!

"Oh my gosh!" I yell. "What's he doing Guthrie?"

Guthrie runs to the door and yells, "he's not punching Rick or Gary, he's punching somebody else!"

I run to the door to look and sure enough he's fighting with a man. The store worker is trying to break them up, but he can't.

"Get him Brian!" Guthrie yells.

"Punch him in the nose!" I yell. I love watching my brothers fight. Especially Brian.

Some guys come running up from across the street and pull Brian and the man apart. We still hear a lot of yelling and I can make out some of the words. Calm down, get out of here, go home, and stuff like that. Brian shakes the guys off of him after Rick, Gary, and the man leave. Then he comes in the store.

"Are you ok, Heidi?" He asks.

"Yeah. Who was that you were fighting?" I ask.

"Their older brother."

"Did you win?" Guthrie asks.

I look at Brian's face. His lip is bleeding and his cheek looks red. "I think I got a few good punches in."

We look up at him and smile and he smiles back.

"Let's get this place cleaned up," he says. "I still have to buy a few things."

"Yeah," Guthrie says, "you don't want to be late for your date!"

Brian looks down at me and says, "did they hurt you?"

I look up and say, "I punched Gary into the chips so he didn't hurt me, but Rick grabbed my arm really hard." I hold up my arm and show him the red marks.

Brian hugs me and says, "sorry kid. I wish I would've got here sooner."

"That's ok. Thanks for helping me."

We finish cleaning up the chips and Brian lets us get some gum.

"I have to go get the rest of the stuff on my list. You two find some place to wait," Brian says.

"I'm gonna look at the comic books," Guthrie yells and runs off.

"Can I stay with you?" I ask.

Brian looks down at me and says, "sure. You ok?"

I nod my head and he walks to the back of the store with me following behind.

* * *

When we finish at the store I feel scared walking outside to the jeep. I look around for Gary and his brothers and I don't see them. "Can we go home?" I ask Brian.

"Why? We're gonna eat dinner at Marie's. What's wrong?" He looks at me and all I can do is stare up at him. I don't want to tell him I'm scared that Rick might be somewhere nearby. He looks down at me and then crouches down in front of me and says, "you're scared aren't you?"

I nod and my eyes start to water. He picks me up and says, "they're gone. They can't bug you now. I'm not gonna let them. If they come back I'll run them out of town. Ok?"

I smile and hug him.

"Now, are ready to eat?" He asks.

"Yes."

"Good." He carries me across the street to Marie's.

* * *

It's really crowded at Marie's. We get a table in the middle of the restaurant. We say hi to everyone we know, which is almost everybody there. Marie comes over to say hi.

"And how are the McFaddens tonight? Are you missing your big family yet?" She asks.

"Nope!" Guthrie says and Marie laughs.

"How about you Heidi?"

I smile at her and shrug my shoulders because now she's making me miss them.

"What can I get you tonight?" She asks.

"Just drinks right now Marie, I'm waiting for someone," Brian says.

"Is it a girl by any chance?" Marie asks him and smiles.

Brian leans back in his chair and smiles at her. "Maybe. I'll have a beer."

"Coke," Guthrie says.

"Root beer," I tell her.

"Coming right up," she says as she leaves.

"Who are we waiting for?" Guthrie asks. "Do we know her?"

Brian waves at the door and then stands up. We look over and see a girl with blonde hair walking over to us. When she sees Brian's face she reaches up with her hand and puts it under his chin to lift his face up to the light.

"What happened? Are you ok?" She asks.

He shakes her hand away and says, "I'm fine. It was just a little scuffle. You should see the other guy." He laughs and so does Guthrie.

"Well it looks like it hurts." Then she looks at me and Guthrie.

"We're not his kids if that's what you're wondering," I tell her and she laughs. "We're his brother and sister."

"Karen, this is Heidi and Guthrie." Brian says. Then he looks at us and says, "this is Karen."

I think I've seen her before. "Are you Brian's girlfriend?" I ask.

She looks at me and laughs. So does Brian. I wonder why that's so funny. Marie brings our drinks and Karen tells her she'll have a beer.

"I'll bring that right out and then I'll take your order," she says.

I sip my root beer and stare at Karen. I'm not sure if I like her yet. She seems to like Brian. She keeps talking to him and they're laughing a lot. It's like me and Guthrie aren't even sitting here. I look at Guthrie and he's staring at her with a big smile on his face. Oh great!

Marie brings Karen her beer and Brian tells her we'll all have burgers and fries. I get bored because I'm not really interested in what Karen and Brian are talking about and Guthrie is. I decide to find things to play with at the table.

I play with my straw by plugging the top of it with my finger so it's full of root beer, and then lifting it to my mouth to drink it. That gets boring after a while so I decide to play with the salt shaker. I stand up because it's easier to play. I hit it with my hand so it slides across the table to my other hand.

"Slide it to me," Guthrie says.

Finally, he'll play with me. We slide it back and forth and it makes us laugh because it almost falls off the table a few times. "That was close!" I yell at Guthrie after he makes a good save. I look over at Brian and Karen and she's moved her chair closer to Brian. I'm staring at her and I don't notice Guthrie has slid the salt shaker over to me and it falls off the table and crashes to the floor.

I look at Brian and he doesn't notice. I reach down and pick up the shaker and sit down. Luckily it didn't break. Marie brings us our food and I reach for the ketchup. The lid's on too tight so I slide it to Guthrie and we laugh. He opens it for me and slides it back. I try to pour the ketchup out but it doesn't come out. I hold it upside down and smack at the bottom of it, but it still doesn't come out. Hannah says to use a knife when this happens, but I don't think that's fun. I stand up and shake the bottle over my french fries and that doesn't work either so I shake it really high and really hard and it finally comes out flying all over Karen's sweater!

She jumps up and yells a little bit. You would've thought I poured hot coffee on her or something. She takes her napkin and starts wiping it but that makes it worse. "I'll be right back," she says as she leaves the table and goes to the bathroom.

Brian glares at me. "Sorry," I tell him. "I didn't mean to do that."

"I know," he says. "Just be careful will you?"

I nod at him and put ketchup on my plate. Then I smile at Guthrie and slide the bottle over to him. When he's done he slides it to Brian.

It seems like Karen has been in the bathroom forever and when she finally comes back and sits down I tell her I'm sorry.

"That's ok," she says. "It'll wash out."

I look at her sweater and it's all wet where the ketchup was. I start eating my dinner and watch her and Brian talking. I'm not listening to what they're saying, I'm just watching them while they're talking. They sure are smiling at each other a lot. They're laughing a lot and acting really goofy too. I think it's the beer. Karen's had two now and Brian's had three. She seems perfect for Brian.

Marie comes over to our table and starts clearing our plates away. "I hope you saved room for dessert," she says, "it's on the house."

Brian leans way back in his chair and almost falls over so we all laugh. "That would be great Marie," he says to her.

"No more beer for you," she says. "I'm cutting you off. You have to drive these little guys home." She smiles at me and Guthrie and takes the plates away.

Karen looks into Brian eyes and she says, "I can drive you home if you need me too."

I bang my glass down on the table and look at her. Then I look at Brian. They're eyes are smiling at each other. I look at Guthrie and he looks at me and we shrug our shoulders. Marie brings us pie and it's my favorite. Apple pie with ice cream. When we're finished we all stand up and put our jackets on while Brian pays the bill. Karen walks out with us.

"Go wait at the jeep," Brian tells me and Guthrie.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because they want to kiss!" Guthrie says and he grabs my hand and pulls me toward the jeep. I look back at Brian and watch him and Karen walk to the side of Marie's and hug each other. Then they kiss. A lot! Then they talk again and both of them walk over to the jeep.

Brian smiles at us and says, "let's go." I get in the back seat with Guthrie and I watch Karen get in the front passenger seat.

"Why's she coming with us?" I ask Brian when he gets in.

"She's just coming over for a little bit," he says.

I stand up so I'm in the middle of the jeep and lean against the front seat so I can look at him. "Why?" I ask.

"Because we want to talk more," he says.

I glare at him. "No you don't! You want to kiss more!" I hear Karen giggle.

Brian smiles at me. "Sit down short stuff, I'm starting the jeep."

I keep standing up and glaring at him as he starts the jeep and Guthrie puts his hand on my shoulder and pushes me down. I stare at Brian and Karen. My brothers don't bring girls home a lot. They say it's because there's no privacy. We never even met Hannah before Adam married her. Then I think about something.

"Hey! How's she gonna get home tonight if she's coming in our jeep?" I ask.

Brian and Karen look at each other and smile. I look at Guthrie and he shrugs his shoulders. I don't think I'm gonna like Karen coming over.


	4. Chapter 4

When we get home the first thing Brian does is get a beer for Karen and one for himself.

"Have you guys done your homework yet?" He asks.

"No," Guthrie says.

"I don't have any," I tell him.

He glares at me.

"I did it all when I was in the office."

"Well, why don't you find something to do in the kitchen with Guthrie," Brian says.

"Why? I don't want to watch him do his homework. That would be boring. Why can't I be out here in the living room with you guys?" I ask.

"It's ok Brian," Karen says. "She can stay in here with us, we have all night." She gives Brian a big smile when she says that last part.

"All night to do what?" I ask while glaring at Brian.

"All night to get to know each other better," he tells me. He's not looking at me though when he says it, he's looking at Karen.

"Why do you need all night to do that? Just sit on the couch and tell each other about yourselves. It shouldn't take more than an hour," I say.

They laugh.

"What? What's so funny?" I ask.

"Why don't you stay out here in the living room and we'll go out on the porch," Brian says.

"Why? Why do you have to go out there? Why can't you just talk in here?"

"Because they want to kiss, Heidi!" Guthrie yells from the kitchen.

I look at Brian and Karen. "Well why didn't you just say that? You don't need to go outside to do that, Adam and Hannah kiss each other all the time right there on the couch."

Karen laughs and covers her mouth with her hand.

"There's more privacy out there," Brian says.

"Privacy from what? We're the only ones home." I ask.

Guthrie yells from the kitchen again. "Privacy from you!"

"Oh. What am I supposed to do while you're outside kissing?"

"You could play a game...,"

"By myself!" I yell.

"You could draw. It's almost your bedtime anyways so you could just get ready for bed," Brian says. He's not smiling anymore.

"I'll draw," I say sadly. I go upstairs to my room to get my markers while they go outside on the porch.

* * *

"I'm gonna draw a picture of a horse for Hannah," I tell Guthrie as I sit down at the table. Before I can even get a marker out of the box, the phone rings.

"I'll get it!" I yell. I race to the phone in the living room.

"Hello?"

"Hi."

"Hi Adam! Are you having fun in Reno?" I ask.

"Yes. Are you having fun with Brian?" He asks.

"Sort of. I'm bored right now."

"You should be getting ready for bed."

I ignore that. "Guess what! We went into town tonight and had dinner at Marie's. Brian got in a fight and now he's kissing a girl outside on the porch!" It's quiet on the phone now. "Adam? Did you hear me?"

"Yeah. Go get Brian."

"But _we're_ talking now."

"I'll talk to you when I'm done talking to Brian. Go get him," he says.

"But I don't want to go bug him if he's kissing that girl," I tell him.

"He'll live. Go get him."

"Ok." I lay the phone on the big desk and run outside. "Brian! Adam wants to talk to you!" I yell.

I hear him groan and say, "I'll be right back." When he passes by me he glares at me. "What'd you tell him?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah right!" He walks to the big desk and picks up the phone. "Hey," he says.

It's quiet for a while and then he looks at me and says, "yeah, they're getting ready for bed." Then he says, "Karen. I don't think you know her." After he's quiet for a while he says, "I know, don't worry. Everything's under control, big brother." Then he says, "yeah, here she is." He hands me the phone and goes back outside.

"Hi!" I yell.

"Hi. We're you good at school today?" Adam asks.

I pause for a minute before I say, "yes."

"Hmmm. That doesn't sound very convincing."

I ignore that because I think of something more important to talk about. "Adam, if Karen came over to our house in the jeep with us, how's she gonna get home? Is Brian gonna have to wake me and Guthrie up to go with him when he takes her home, or is he gonna leave us home alone?"

The phone is quiet for a minute and I hear Adam sigh. "Go get Brian again," he says.

"Why?"

"Just do it." He sounds a little mad.

I run to the front door and open it and yell, "Brian! Adam wants to talk to you again!"

I hear him groan and come to the door. "What does he want?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know," I say as I follow him to the phone.

"Yeah?" He says as he picks up the phone. He listens and then glares at me. "Yes. It's all taken care of Adam. Don't worry about it." He's still glaring at me. "Yeah, they're going to bed now." Brian hands me the phone and says, "when you're done talking go to bed."

"You're gonna tuck me in aren't you?"

He nods and walks over to the front door. "Hi!" I say into the phone.

"Hi. I can't talk long because it costs a lot of money to call home, and I still want to talk to Guthrie. Goodnight Heidi. I miss you and I love you."

"I miss you too. I wish you were here to tuck me in. Brian's with that girl and I don't think he's gonna tuck me in."

"He will, trust me. He knows you like to be tucked in. Now go get Guthrie."

"Ok. I love you! Bye!" I hold the phone out. "Guthrie, Adam wants to talk to you."

He takes the phone from me and I go upstairs to get ready for bed.

* * *

"Guthrie, why isn't Brian coming inside?" I ask while I walk into the boys' room. He's reading a book up on the top bunk. I climb up on the other bunk. "He's supposed to tuck me in."

"Why do you need to be tucked in? Why don't you just read a book and go to sleep?" He asks.

I look at him reading his book. I don't think I'd like that. Nobody to read to me or say goodnight or sing to me sounds kind of sad. Now I miss Adam and Hannah. I climb down and walk out into the hallway. Brian and Karen are still outside. I walk downstairs and open the front door. I walk outside slowly and peek around the corner of the porch. Brian and Karen are sitting on the bench kissing.

"Ahem," I say quietly. They don't hear me so I say it louder. They stop kissing and look at me.

"What are you doing out here?" Brian asks.

"I'm ready for bed. When are you going to tuck me in?"

"Go get in bed and I'll be up in a minute," he says.

"Aren't you guys cold out here?" I ask.

Karen smiles at me and then she looks at Brian and says, "no."

"Go," Brian says.

I sigh and go back inside. I walk slowly upstairs and back into the boys' room. Guthrie's asleep so I go into my room and sit on the bed and look at my clock. 9:00. I'm really tired but I still want Brian to tuck me in. I lay down on my bed and wait. Now it's 9:20 and I don't think Brian's coming inside.

I get up and go downstairs and walk over to the big desk in the living room. I look around for the phone number of the hotel and when I find it I take it upstairs with me. I walk over to the little table in the hallway and pick up the whole phone and sit down on the floor. I dial the number.

"Motel six. How can I help you?" A lady says.

"Hannah?" I ask.

"This is Michelle, how can I help you?"

"I need to talk to Adam. Adam McFadden," I tell her.

"What room number?" She asks.

"I don't know it doesn't say on the paper."

"I'll look it up and connect you."

I wait for a while and then someone says hello. It sounds like Hannah.

"Hannah?" I ask.

"Heidi? What's wrong? Is everything ok?" She asks.

"Brian's not tucking me in," I tell her sadly. "He's outside kissing a girl."

"Oh. I'm sure he'll be in soon."

"It's already been twenty minutes and he hasn't come inside yet." I start to cry. "I miss you."

"I miss you too, but you have to go to bed now."

"I can't go to sleep if somebody doesn't tuck me in," I cry.

"Heidi, calm down. Here, talk to Adam."

"Heidi," I hear Adam say.

"I miss you," I cry.

"I miss you too, but you have to go to bed. Hang up the phone and I'm sure Brian will be in soon. You know he won't forget about you."

"But it's lonely in here. Guthrie's asleep and Brian's outside and I'm all alone. I'm sad."

"I know," Adam says. "Do you want me to talk to Brian? Go get him," he says.

"Ok." I stand up and start to walk to the stairs but I stop because the front door opens. Brian and Karen come inside. Brian tells her the bathroom's upstairs and then he sees me.

"How come your not in bed?" He asks.

"I'm waiting for you."

"I was just coming in to tuck you in. Go get in bed."

I pick up the phone and say, "he's going to tuck me in now."

"Ok. Goodnight Heidi."

"Goodnight." I hang up the phone.

Karen is in the bathroom now and Brian says, "who were you talking to?"

"Adam."

I walk into my bedroom and he follows me in. "Why? Did he call here? Did he want to talk to me?"

"No. I called him because you weren't tucking me in."

He picks me up and hugs me and says, "you crazy kid! Did you think I'd forget to tuck you in?" He drops me on my bed and tickles me until I laugh.

"You were outside for a long time," I tell him. "Guthrie's asleep and I was in here all by myself."

"Well I'm here now and we're staying inside now. We'll be downstairs."

"When's she going home?" I ask.

"Later."

He helps me get under the covers and then he sits on the bed. "Story or song?" He asks.

"How's she gonna get home?" I ask.

"Don't worry about that."

"I'm not worried. I just want to know how's she going home. If you don't take her home is she gonna spend the night here? Where's she gonna sleep?"

"You ask too many questions," he says.

"And you're not answering them. Is she gonna spend the night?"

"I don't know yet. Do you want a story or song?"

"Is she gonna sleep with you in the same bed?"

"Heidi, will you stop asking questions. It's time for you to go to sleep," he says.

"Are you going to sleep now, or are you gonna keep kissing her?"

He sighs. "Heidi, do you want a story or song?"

"How come you don't bring girls home when everyone else is home?"

"Because there's no privacy. Now do you want me to tuck you in, or not?"

"Yes. Can you just sing me a song? I'm tired now." I roll over on my side and face the wall, and he puts his hand on my head and smooths my hair back. "Brian, when you were ten did you still get tucked in?"

"Sh." He says. "I don't remember." He starts to sing a song our mom sang to him. My brothers like to sing those songs to me because they know our mom would want them too.

"Brian, did you and Adam tuck Crane in? Did you tuck Daniel, Evan, and Ford in?"

He stops singing and says, "I don't know about Crane, but the other guys, yes."

"Were they ten?"

"Probably. Why?"

I shrug my shoulders and he starts singing again. He's singing quietly and when he's done he kisses my cheek and whispers, "goodnight."

"Goodnight," I whisper back. I'm tired now. Today was a long day. Especially since I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I close my eyes and go to sleep.

* * *

Brian wakes me up in the morning and I'm tired. I do not want to get up. "Can I stay home? Please? I'm really tired."

"No. Get up, you have to go to school. I'm cooking breakfast so hurry up and get dressed." He leaves and I hear him waking Guthrie up.

I sit up and yawn and stretch. I groan, I just want to go back to bed.

"Brian, the bacon's ready," a girl says from downstairs.

I'm up now and I run out into the hallway. Karen is standing in between the kitchen and the living room. She's wearing one of Brian's t-shirts. It's really big on her. I guess she spent the night. She sees me looking at her and she smiles. I don't smile back. Instead I run back into my room and shut my door so I can get dressed.

* * *

When I come downstairs everyone is sitting at the table. Karen is sitting in my spot. I sit at another spot and stare at her.

"Good morning," she says to me and she smiles.

I keep on staring at her and finally say, "good morning. Did you sleep with Brian?" I ask.

Karen looks at Brian and smiles. Guthrie kicks me under the table.

"Ow! Did you?" I ask again.

"Heidi, eat your breakfast," Brian says.

"I am." I look at Karen and ask, "are you sleeping over tonight?"

She looks down at her plate and pushes her eggs around with her fork.

"Heidi, stop asking questions," Brian says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because if you don't stop I'm gonna get mad," he says.

"I'm just curious," I tell him. "Hannah came and spent the night and now she lives here."

Brian and Guthrie laugh at that and Guthrie says, "she was married to Adam when she came."

"Are you guys gonna get married?" I ask.

"No!" Brian says. He's not yelling but he says it loud.

"Then why is she spending the night?"

Brian stands up and says, "you're done! Go brush your teeth!"

"But I'm still hungry!"

"Too bad! You're done!"

I glare at him and think about not getting up, but he looks mad so I get up and leave. "Jeez! I just want someone to answer my questions. What's the big deal?" I mutter to myself as I go upstairs.

* * *

When it's time to go out to the bus Brian hands me my lunch and kisses the top of my head. "Be good at school today, ok?"

"Ok."

"Don't forget to give the principal the letter I signed," he says.

"I won't. Brian? Is Karen going to be here when we get home from school?"

"No," he says. "Now get to the bus stop before you're late."

I run to catch up with Guthrie.

"Guthrie, do you think Karen slept with Brian?"

"Yes."

"Did they have sex?" I ask.

"I don't know. Probably. I think that's why she slept over."

"Aren't you supposed to be married if you have sex?"

Guthrie sighs. "I don't know. Some people say yes and some say no."

"_Who_ says that?" I ask.

"I don't know, _people_ say that," he says.

"How come Karen never spent the night before?"

"Because there's no privacy in our house. There's nine people living in it. Brian doesn't even have his own bed now that Hannah's here.

"Oh." The bus comes so I don't get to ask Guthrie any more questions. I hope Brian is right about Karen not being home when we get home today because I don't think I like her spending the night.

* * *

When I get to school I go to the office and give the secretary the note Brian signed, then I go outside to the playground. I look around for Denise but I don't see her so I go out to the field to play tag with some other kids in my class.

After the bell rings I walk to my classroom and see some of the kids walking in and they seem really happy. I wonder why. When I walk in I find out why. We have a substitute teacher today.

Normally that would make me really happy, but not today. I 'always' get in trouble when we have a substitute, and I told Brian I would be good today. This is gonna be really hard especially because the sub is Mrs. Smith. We _hate_ each other!

I sit at my desk and put my head down. Maybe if I don't look at her I won't get in trouble.

"Good morning," Mrs. Smith says. I don't even have to put my head up to know some kids aren't paying attention because of all the talking I hear. Usually I would be one of those kids. Mrs. Smith starts talking louder and the kids talk louder and then they start getting quiet so I know she's writing names on the board. Since Murphys is such a small town everyone knows everyone and Mrs. Smith has been a substitute here forever. I think she's been a sub for all my brothers.

"Heidi!" I hear her calling my name. "Heidi McFadden!" I put my head up and look at her. "I've been calling your name," she says. I look at the board and see my name on it. Oh great! That's my warning. If I get a check by my name I have to stay in at recess. "You need to keep your head up," she says to me. She's looking at me like she expects me to say something and I don't know what it is because my head's up now. "Do you understand?" She finally says when I don't say anything.

Oh my God! Of course I understand! That's why my head's up! "Yes," I say.

"Good. I don't want any trouble out of you today." She's looking at me again like she's waiting for an answer. This is going to be a long day.

"Okay?" I answer. I hope that's what she wanted me to say.

"Good." Now she looks at the whole class again. "I'm going to take roll now. When I call your name tell me if you're buying a hot lunch."

Good. All I have to do is keep my mouth shut as much as possible today and I should be ok.

* * *

I had to stay in at the first recess because it was really hard not to laugh at what some of the kids were doing during reading time. At least I wasn't the one being funny because she sent him to the office. If there's one thing Mr. Brick doesn't like it's kids goofing off when there's a sub.

It's math time now and that's my least favorite subject. We get out our math books and Mrs. Smith passes out the paper. "Turn to page fifty-five." She says.

We all do and I can tell that's the wrong page because I've never seen any math problems like this before. The other kids notice too. Amy raises her hand and says, "we're not on that page. We're on page forty-five."

"It says right here on Mrs. Wilson's lesson plans that you are on page fifty-five. Get busy. I expect you to finish this page by lunchtime or you'll be staying in. There's lots of groans, especially from me, but everyone gets started.

I have no clue how to do these problems so I stare at my book. Mrs. Smith is sitting at Mrs. Wilson's desk.

"Heidi, why aren't you doing your work?" She asks.

I stare at her before I finally say, "I don't know how to do these problems."

"Then you can stay in at lunchtime and I'll help you."

"Why can't you just help me now?" I ask. That doesn't seem fair. "It's not like you're doing anything right now."

I don't think she liked me saying that because she gets up and puts a check by my name. I groan. "Get back to work," she says.

I stare at my book and then I look around the room. It looks like some kids are doing the work, but other kids aren't doing anything either. How come she's not telling them to get back to work? I stare at my book again and start tapping my pencil on my desk. Pretty soon other kids start smiling at me and tapping their pencils on their desks. I laugh because Jeremy has two pencils and he's pretending to play the drums.

"That's enough!" Mrs. Smith says. She gets up and puts check marks by all our names. She doesn't have to write anyone's name, because our names are already on the chalkboard. Now I have two check marks. That means no more recess today. "Get back to work," she says.

I look over at Jeremy and he's drawing a picture. He sees me looking at him and we smile at each other. He points to Mrs. Smith and then he points to the person he's drawing. He shows me his drawing and it looks like a mean person. I draw my own picture of Mrs. Smith and put horns on her so she looks like the devil. Then I write her name under the picture and hold it up for Jeremy to see. He laughs.

"What's so funny?" Mrs. Smith says. She's looking at Jeremy because he's the one that laughed.

"Nothing," he says.

Mrs. Smith gets up and walks over to us. I turn my paper over quickly and hope she doesn't ask to see it. Jeremy does the same thing.

"Show me your paper," she says. He shows it to her. She looks at the drawing and doesn't say anything. Then she looks at me and holds out her hand. I just stare at her because I am 'not' going to let her see what I drew. "Give me your paper," she says to me. I keep staring at her. "I'm not going to ask you again," she says. Good, 'cause I don't want to show her. After a little while she starts to take the paper, but I'm faster and I hold it behind my back. She really doesn't like that because her face starts to turn red. I laugh because she looks like the devil person I drew, only without the horns. I wish I would've laughed inside my head instead of out loud.

"Go to the office," she says in a very serious voice.

"I'll show you now," I say hoping that will make her change her mind. I hold the paper out for her to take.

She looks at my drawing and says, "both of you go to the office now!"

"But I showed it to you!" I yell.

"Go!" She yells pointing at the door.

Jeremy gets up and leaves so I do too. Once I'm out of the classroom I tell Jeremy to go ahead without me because I have to go to the bathroom. I don't really have to go, but I need some time to think about what I'm gonna say to Mr. Brick so he doesn't call home, or send another note home.

I sit on the bathroom floor by the sink to think. I don't think there's anything I can say that will make Mr. Brick change his mind about calling home. Well, maybe I can stay in here for the rest of the day. He will only know I got in trouble if Mrs. Smith called the office to say I'm coming. Besides, he's a boy, he can't come in the girls bathroom.

Sounds like a good plan to me.


	5. Chapter 5

My plan to hide in the bathroom seems to be working. I don't know how long I've been sitting in here but I think it's been a while. A girl from Guthrie's class comes in and says hi. I think her name is Beth.

"What are you doing in here on the floor, Heidi?" She asks.

"Hiding from Mr. Brick."

She smiles at me. "That's not going to work. He'll just have a teacher come in and get you."

"Not if he doesn't know I'm hiding. Maybe our sub didn't tell him I'm coming to the office."

She looks at herself in the mirror and takes the comb out of her back pocket and starts combing her hair. "Is your sub Mrs. Smith?" I nod. "She always calls the office. How long have you been in here?"

I shrug my shoulders. "A while. Is it lunchtime for the fourth graders yet?" I get up and stand next to her and watch her comb her hair.

"Not yet, but soon. I think in about five minutes," she says.

"Then I've been in here for probably a half hour. I don't think Mrs. Smith called the office."

"I hope you're right because if they find you hiding in here they'll call home and have someone come and pick you up."

I smile at that. "No one's home."

"I hope you're right," she says after she puts her comb back in her pocket. Then she starts washing her hands.

"Aren't you gonna go to the bathroom?" I ask.

She smiles at me. "No, I just came in here to get out of doing math for a little while."

"I do that too!" I tell her.

"Bye, Heidi. I hope you don't get caught," she says as she leaves.

Me too. I sit back down on the floor.

* * *

I talk to three other girls that come into the bathroom and then the secretary comes in.

"Heidi, why are you in here?" She asks. "Mr. Brick has been looking for you."

I like the secretary. She's really nice. She kind of reminds me of Hannah. "My stomach hurts," I tell her. I try to make my face look really sad.

She smiles at me and says, "come to the office with me. You can lay down in there instead of sitting on this dirty floor."

I shake my head no. "I don't want to go there."

"You have to. I can't let you stay here in the bathroom."

"But I feel like I'm going to throw up."

She's still smiling at me when she says, "there's a trash can in the office."

I sigh. "Am I gonna get in trouble for being in here?"

"I don't know. Mr. Brick has been looking for you for a while now."

"He has?" I ask. She nods her head. "Where has he been looking? There's not that many places to hide."

"Come on," she says and she holds her hand out for me to take.

I stare at her for a while and then I get up and take her hand. I walk with her back to the office.

* * *

Once we're in the office she tells me to sit on the bench outside Mr. Brick's door. She gives a little knock on his door and then goes back behind the counter and sits down at her desk.

I look in Mr. Brick's office. The walls are all windows so everyone can see in. He's talking on the phone. I hope he's not talking to Brian.

I'm hungry now. I look at the clock. 12:30. It's past my lunchtime and my stomach is growling. I sit on the bench for a long, long, time. I keep looking at the clock. I've been here for thirty minutes. Mr. Brick comes out of his office and walks by me. He doesn't even look at me. That can't be good. He goes outside so I get up to talk to the secretary.

"Am I in a lot of trouble?" I ask her.

She smiles at me and nods. That makes my eyes start to water and she brings me a box of tissues.

"I'm hungry," I tell her.

"I'll call your classroom and have someone send your lunch down."

"Thanks." I sit back down on the bench and in about five minutes Amy comes in with my lunch. I eat it and then I get really bored so I lean against the side of the bench and close my eyes.

* * *

I jump when I hear the bell ring. I look at the clock and see it's time to go home. I stand up ready to leave when I hear Mr. Brick's loud voice.

"Sit down!"

I turn towards his office and see him sitting at his desk.

"But it's time to go home," I tell him.

"Not for you."

"What? I can't stay here! You can't keep me here, that's against the law! I have to go now or I'll miss the bus!" I yell.

"Sit down! Brian will come to pick you up!" He yells.

"Did he tell you that? Because I know he's working outside now, he can't answer the phone. I'm supposed to come home on the bus!"

"When he sees you're not on the bus, he'll come get you."

I sit down. That's not good. Brian's gonna be mad because he has lots of work to do on the ranch and he doesn't have time to come get me.

"But don't you have to go home?" I ask.

"No. I can wait here all night if I have to," he says.

"No you can't!" I yell and then I wish I hadn't, because Mr. Brick gets up and slams his door shut. I look at the secretary and she looks at me and raises her eyebrows. I start to cry.

I keep watching the clock. Almost an hour has gone by since school got out and I know Brian knows I'm not on the bus now. I keep staring back and forth from the door to the clock. I'm still crying when Brian opens the door to the office. He takes his hat off and smiles at the secretary. Then he looks at me and glares. I cover my face with my hands and cry into them.

I hear Mr. Brick's door open and then I hear it close. I put my hands down and look into the office. I can hear the principal talking loudly but I can't hear what he's saying. Then I see him hand Brian a paper. It's the drawing I drew of Mrs. Smith. Then they talk more. Actually, I don't think Brian's talking a whole lot, I think it's just Mr. Brick. All of a sudden they both stand up and the door opens.

"Let's go," Brian says to me.

I stand up and follow him out of the office. Brian is holding an envelope in one hand and his hat in the other. Once we're outside he puts his hat on and we walk to the jeep. I'm still crying when I get in. "I'm sorry Brian," I cry.

He looks at me before he starts the jeep. "Quit crying," he says.

Well, at least he's not yelling at me. I try to stop crying, but it's hard to do, and I know he hates it when girls cry. I wipe my eyes and my cheeks but the tears keep coming.

"Am I in trouble?" I ask him.

He starts the jeep and says, "yep." That makes me start crying hard again. "Oh my gosh Heidi! Quit crying!" He yells. "I can't stand it!"

"I'm sorry, I'll try to stop!" I yell back. I cover my face with my hands and turn towards the door. Brian turns the jeep off and puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Heidi," he says. I keep facing the door and crying. "Heidi," he says again, "look at me." I shake my head no and I feel him turning me towards him. He hugs me as best as he can in a jeep and I let him. He hugs me until I'm done crying and have the hiccups. That makes him laugh a little. "Done?" He asks quietly. I nod my head. "Then let's go home." He starts the jeep again and drives home.

* * *

"Park your butt in the chair," Brian says when we get home. He's pointing to the big comfy chair in the living room. "I still have work to do." He goes back outside to finish his work. It smells really good in the house. It smells like chili.

Guthrie is in the kitchen and he comes into the living room. "How come you weren't on the bus?" He asks.

"I got in trouble. Mr. Brick wouldn't let me go home," I tell him.

"What? What'd you mean he wouldn't _let_ you go home? Can he do that?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I guess so, 'cause that's what he did."

"He's never done that before," Guthrie says. He sits down on the couch. "What'd you do?"

"We had a sub," I tell him.

"Oh. Was it Mrs. Smith?"

I nod my head and Guthrie groans. The front door opens and Brian says, "hey Guthrie, get out here and do your chores."

I stand up. "What about me?"

"You're gonna do yours later. I'm almost done out here and then you and me are gonna talk." Guthrie closes the door on his way out and I'm left alone in the house. But then the door opens again and Brian pokes his head inside. "Don't get up out of that chair." Then he closes the door.

I sigh. I wonder if Brian is going to tell Adam what happened at school today. Maybe I should call him first. That way I can tell him the story how I want to, and then Brian won't have to tell him anything. I get up from the chair and get the hotel phone number and the phone from the big desk and drag it over to the chair. I pick up the phone and dial.

"Motel six, how can I help you?" A man's voice says over the phone.

"I need to talk to Adam McFadden."

"What room number?" He asks.

"I don't know," I tell him.

The man sighs and says, "listen little girl, this better not be a prank call."

"What are you talking about? I need to talk to Adam."

"Then you should know what room number he's in."

"But I don't. The paper doesn't say. The lady that answered the phone last night looked it up," I tell him.

The man sighs again. "What's the name?"

"Adam McFadden."

The phone is quiet and then it starts ringing and ringing and nobody picks it up. They must not be in the room. I hang up the phone and dial the number again.

"Motel six, how can I help you?" The man says again.

"It's me again. Nobody answered the phone."

"Who is this?" The man asks.

"Heidi. I just called you and you looked up my brother..., I mean my dad's room. Nobody answered."

The man sounds a little mad when he says, "that means he's not in his room."

"I know that! But I need to talk to him! It's an emergency!" Maybe that will help.

He sighs and says, "I'll take a message. Who's it for?"

"Adam."

"Adam who?" He says and he sounds mad.

"Adam McFadden. It's an emergency. He needs to call home."

The phone is quiet for a minute and then the man says, "what's your name?"

"Heidi. But tell him 'Brian' is the emergency. Tell him Brian called, not me."

"Is this a prank call?" The man asks.

"No! This is serious! Brian really needs to talk to him bad!"

"Ok, I'll sign it from Brian, but you'd better not call again," he says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Just don't!" Then he hangs up the phone.

That was rude. He must be having a bad day. That would be kind of funny if I called him back and did a prank call. No, then he might not give Adam my message.

I curl up in the big comfy chair to get comfortable while I wait for the phone to ring.

* * *

I jump up when I hear the front door close. Brian and Guthrie are inside hanging their jackets up by the door.

"What's the phone doing there?" Brian asks.

I look down at it. Darn, Adam didn't call and if he calls now he's gonna talk to Brian first.

"Did someone call?" He asks.

I stare at him for a while so I can think.

"Well, did someone call?" He asks again.

"Yeah," I lie, "Adam called. I told him what happened at school today."

I hear Guthrie groan and Brian takes his cowboy hat off and lays it on the coffee table. "You expect me to believe Adam called and you told him what happened at school today?"

I look up at him and raise my eyebrows, "yeeees?"

Brian laughs and says, "that's a good one Heidi, but I don't believe you for a second."

I glare at him. "Why not!" I fold my arms across my chest. "How do you know I didn't?"

"Let's just say I know." He walks into the kitchen with Guthrie.

"Well I could have!" I yell.

Brian comes back in and he's holding the letter from Mr. Brick. "We need to talk about what happened at school today." He brings in a chair from the kitchen and sits near the big comfy chair I'm sitting on.

"Brian, I tried really hard to be good today, but we had a sub. Mrs. Smith." I look really closely at Brian when I say that and I see his face turn a little mad. "She hates me," I say.

"Yeah, she hated me too," he says.

"Well, I tried really hard to be good, but I had to stay in at the first recess because I got a check mark after my name."

"I hated those check marks," Brian says. It looks like he's thinking about something.

"But you'll never guess what she did at math time!"

"What?"

"She had us do the wrong page in our math book! It was so hard and the kids tried to tell her we weren't on that page, but she wouldn't believe us! She wouldn't even believe the good kids. She said we had to do that page and if we didn't finish we would have to stay in at recess." I look at Brian and see his face look a little more angry.

"Brian, the problems were too hard for me, so I just sat there. She didn't like that, so she said I had to stay in at lunch and she'd show me how to do them." I pause before I say the next part. "So I asked her why couldn't she just show me now since she wasn't doing anything." I hear a little laugh from Brian and he has a tiny smile on his face and I can hear Guthrie laughing from the kitchen. He must be doing his homework in there.

"Ok, I can understand all that. I can even understand the picture you drew," he says.

"You do?" I look up at him and raise my eyebrows.

"Of course. I know how hard it is to be good when there's a sub. We all do, and we know it's hard for you too."

"Who's _we_?" I ask.

"All of us."

"Even Adam?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you say I was in trouble when I asked you if I was in the jeep?"

"Because you hid."

"So if I would've gone to the office instead of hiding in the bathroom, I wouldn't be in trouble right now?" I ask.

"Not from us. You would've been in trouble at school. Mr. Brick probably would've made you stay in at recess for a day or two."

"I didn't know that. If I would've known, I wouldn't have hid!"

"You have to think...,"

"That's what Adam always says! You're starting to sound like him," I tell him.

"Well, Mr. Brick was really mad...," Brian starts to say, but I interrupt.

"I know, he didn't even talk to me about what happened. He wouldn't even let me get on the bus."

"That's why _I'm_ mad," he says. "I have a lot of work to do around here and when I have to pick you up from school I don't get to finish it on time. I still have stuff I need to do tonight because I didn't have time to do it before dinner."

"Sorry," I tell him sadly. "You don't have to tell Adam about this, do you?"

"Yes, I do."

"What?! Why?!" I start to cry. "Why can't _you_ just ground me instead of Adam? That's what he's gonna do when he finds out anyways."

"I wish I could, but it's not that simple. Mr. Brick doesn't want you to come back to school...,"

I interrupt him again. "What?!" I yell.

"Let me finish," he says. "He doesn't want you to come back to school until he talks to Adam."

"Why? Why can't he just talk to you?" I look up at him with tears in my eyes. "Please?"

"He said something about me not being your legal guardian. He said since you've cut school before and now that you've hidden, he needs to talk to Adam."

"Well, at least I have until Monday before Adam talks to him. What am I gonna do here since I can't go to school?"

Brian looks at me like he's kind of sorry about something before he says, "he wants Adam to call him tomorrow morning."

That makes me cry really hard. "No! He can't do that! Brian, please don't tell Adam. I don't want to ruin his time in Reno. He's gonna be really mad. Mr. Brick never said I couldn't come back to school before."

Guthrie yells from the kitchen, "just be glad Adam's in Reno right now, and not at home."

Brian smiles and nods his head at that and I get up and hug him. He lets me cry while he holds me. "Heidi, you can't run and hide when you do something wrong," he says.

"Ok," I cry. He hugs me until I finish crying. "Are _you_ gonna ground me too?" I ask him.

"No, I think I'll let Adam take care of that since I have to tell him about all this. It's not fair for you to be punished twice."

I hug him really hard. "Thanks Brian."

He picks me up and says, "let's get dinner ready," he says. "We're having my famous chili. It's been simmering all day."

I love Brian's chili. He puts lots of hot sauce in it. "Can we have corn bread too?" I ask as he carries me into the kitchen and sets me on top of the table.

"Sure. We can have ice cream for dessert."

"We ate all the ice cream," Guthrie says. "We ate all the other dessert stuff too."

"I guess we're gonna have to go grocery shopping tomorrow," Brian says.

I jump off the table and get on the stool by the stove. "Can I stir the chili?" I ask.

"Sure. Here, put some of this in," he says as he hands me the hot sauce.

I pour a lot in and stir. Brian gets the stuff out to make cornbread and I help him make it. "Oh, I almost forget, Heidi you still have to do your chores."

"Now?" I ask. "It's almost dark outside."

"Then you better hurry up and do them."

"But I'll be too scared. Can Guthrie come with me?"

"No he's got homework," Brian says.

Guthrie puts his pencil down and says, "I don't mind," as he stands up.

"Sit," Brian says to Guthrie, and, "go," he says to me.

"But...," I start to say, but Brian interrupts me.

"Go do them now, or you're going to bed early tonight."

That makes me mad. "You can't do that!" I yell. "You're not my dad!" Whenever I yell at Brian he never seems to mind what I say or how loud I say it. Adam would be yelling at me right now.

"I never said I was your dad," he says while he's stirring the chili. "But I'm in charge this week and I'll send you to bed early if I have to." Then he glares at me and says, "if you don't believe me, just try me."

"Fine! I'll go! But I'm not happy about it!" I yell as I stomp through the living room and get my jacket. I put it on outside and run to the barn. It's getting dark and I don't want to be out here when it's dark.

* * *

I try to hurry with my chores in the chicken coop. I clean it out and give them fresh water and food. They're pretty hungry because usually I feed them earlier. They're all clucking around me and I'm trying to feed them as fast as I can, but it doesn't seem to be fast enough for them.

"Hold on!" I yell at them. There's still lots of clucking but then I hear a different kind of sound. It sounds like somebody's crying. I finish feeding the chickens and try to find out what's making the noise. It sounds like it's coming from behind the hay bales in a corner of the barn. I slowly walk over there and as I get closer I can hear it's more of a whimpering sound. I peek around the corner.

"Oh, you're so cute!" I say. Laying in the corner is a cute little puppy! It's gray and about the size of a little lamb. I walk closer and it starts to growl, but it's wagging its tail. Maybe it's hungry. "Are you hungry? Maybe you're thirsty." I run to get a little tin and fill it at the faucet outside. When I set it down it wags it's tail and gets up. "Come on, here, it's for you." I sit on the ground and push the little tin closer him. It tries to walk but it holds it's front paw up and whimpers.

"What's wrong little puppy?" I push the water even closer and it hobbles a little to it and starts drinking really fast. I look at his front paw and it's bent kind of weirdly and he won't put it on the ground. "Aw, poor puppy. Are you hungry?" I stand up and the puppy looks scared and stops drinking. "It's ok, I'll be back with some food."

I walk around the barn and the only thing I can see to feed him is the chicken feed, 'cause I don't think he'd like hay. I put some feed in my hand and bring it over to him. He still looks scared so I careful make a little hill of chicken feed next the water tin. Then I sit down and watch.

He stands up again and hobbles over to the feed and smells it. I don't think he likes it because he doesn't eat it. "Do you want something else to eat? I don't have any puppy food, but maybe I could find you something from the kitchen." I scoot closer to the puppy and put my hand out so he can smell it. Then he licks it! "You're so cute!" I say. I must've said it too loud 'cause he looks scared now and he backs away a little bit. I put my hand back out and whisper, "see, you're ok. You're a good puppy." He smells my hand and licks it and then I see his tail wag.

"I'm gonna go get you something to eat." I scoot away slowly and stand up. It's dark in the barn so I turn the light on inside the barn and the outside ones. Then I quickly run to the house.

* * *

When I run into the kitchen I open the refrigerator.

"Did you finish your chores?" Brian asks.

"Yeah." I say. I look in the fridge, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for.

"What are you looking for?" He asks.

"Something to drink." I see some lunch meat on a shelf so I take some out but I'm not sure what to do with it. It feels slimy. I think about putting it under my shirt but I don't want it touching my stomach. So I stuff it in my pocket. It's really hard to do and it's kind of gross 'cause it gets all mushy. I put it in as best I can and then pull my shirt over my pocket and shut the door.

"I have to go back to the barn. I left the lights on," I say as I walk to the living room.

"Hold it!" Brian says. I stop and turn around and look at him. "What are you up to?" He asks.

I stare up at him. I don't know what to say.

"Aren't you _scared_ to go out there in the dark?" He asks.

I shake my head no. "I'm just going to turn the lights off and then I'll be back." I can tell he doesn't believe me.

"I'll go out there with you so you won't be scared," he says.

"No!" I yell. I shouldn't have yelled that so I say quieter, "I'm really not scared."

Guthrie laughs. "What's out in the barn, Heidi?"

"It's nothing!"

"Can I go out to the barn with you guys?" Guthrie asks Brian.

Brian smiles, "sure. Let's all go see what's in the barn."

"No! You can't!" I yell and I stand in between the kitchen and living room with my legs and arms spread out blocking the way.

Guthrie laughs and Brian says, "you're so funny Heidi," as he leans down and puts his arm around my waist and picks me up. "What's out there?" He asks walking to the front door.

"Nothing. I just left the lights on."

"Yeah right!" Guthrie says. "There's something out there!"

When we get out the door Brian puts me down and I run as fast as I can to the barn. I can hear Guthrie running too and I look back and Brian's running too! That makes me laugh and they get ahead of me but I'm not far behind. "Wait!" I yell.

When we get in the barn they start looking around and all I can hope is that the puppy doesn't make any noise. It's not at first, but then I hear it. I back up slowly towards the corner where the puppy is, and then Guthrie hears the whimpering.

"What's that noise?" He asks. Everyone's quiet and the puppy whimpers loudly now. Guthrie and Brian start walking towards me so I put my hands up.

"Ok, stop," I tell them. "It's a puppy and he's scared so you have to be quiet."

"A puppy?" Guthrie asks.

"Sh! Yes, be quiet."

"It better not be a puppy," Brian says.

"Sh!" I come around to where the puppy is and sit down. "See," I say quietly. The puppy looks up at us and he looks scared. Guthrie sits next to me and Brian crouches down behind us.

"Aw, he's so cute," Guthrie whispers. "But that's not a puppy."

"Yes he is. If he's not a puppy, then what is he?" I ask.

"He's a wolf," Brian says.

"But he looks just like a puppy. How do you know he's a wolf?" I ask.

"Because that's what he is. What's he doing in the barn?"

"He's hurt." I take the lunchmeat out of my pocket which is very hard to do because it gets all, broken up and smooshy. I hold it out to the puppy.

"Don't feed it!" Brian says.

"Why? He's hungry."

"Did you put that in your pocket?" He asks.

"Yes. Look, see he's hungry." The puppy smells the meat and stands up.

"Aw, look at it's paw," Guthrie says.

"I know, see Brian, he's hurt."

We watch the puppy hobble to the meat and eat it.

"Can we bring him inside where it's warm?" I ask.

"Yeah, can we?" Guthrie asks.

"No! And you're not gonna feed it anymore either."

"Why? He'll die!" I look up at Brian and tears start to come in my eyes. "Please, can't we take care of him? Please?"

"Please Brian? We'll take good care of him," Guthrie says.

"No. You can't take care of a wolf," Brian says.

"Then what are we gonna do with him?" I ask.

Brian doesn't say anything.

"Brian?" I say.

"We're not going to do anything with him. He's came in here by himself, he can leave by himself. You can't feed him anymore, do you understand me?"

I look back down at the puppy. I feel so sad for him.

"Heidi? Do you hear me? You can't feed him."

"Why not?"

"Because he's a wolf. I don't want you coming out here to see him either," Brian says.

"Why?" Now I start to cry.

"Because I don't want you to get too attached to him. Come on, we need to go inside now and eat dinner."

I don't feel like it. Brian and Guthrie get up but I'm gonna stay with the puppy.

"Come on Heidi," Brian says.

I shake my head no so he picks me up. I put my arms around his neck and cry. Brian turn the lights off in the barn and we go back to the house.

* * *

Dinnertime is quiet. I can't stop thinking about the puppy. Brian and Guthrie talk about stuff, but I don't listen. I wonder if the puppy is cold. When I'm done eating I put my dishes in the sink and walk out to the living room. I sit in the big comfy chair to think about the day.

I got in trouble at school and at home and there's a hurt puppy in the barn. The phone rings and I jump. "I'll get it!" I yell. I start to get up but then I stop because if that's Adam he's gonna be mad. The phone keeps ringing.

"I thought you said you were gonna get it," Guthrie says, walking in and picking up the phone. I listen to him say hello and then he says, "hi Adam." Then he says, "what emergency?"

Uh-oh. I forgot about the message I left for him.

"There's no emergency," Guthrie says. "Yeah, you can talk to Brian." Guthrie yells, "Brian, it's Adam!"

I find a flashlight and grab my jacket and run out the front door before Brian can get into the living room.

* * *

I lay out some hay to make a bed for the puppy and then I make a bed for me. My flashlight is sitting upright on the ground so it lights up the area where the puppy is. I've been talking to him and he let me pet his head. He keeps wagging his tail when I talk to him, so I tell him everything that happened today at school. When I'm done I lay down next to him and he licks my hand. I'm not sure how long I've been out here but I'm starting to get cold. I hear the barn door creak open so I sit up.

"Heidi," Guthrie says, "Brian wants you to come inside." He walks over to me and sits down.

"Just tell him you couldn't find me."

"He knows you're out here. Adam called and he wants to talk to you," Guthrie says.

"I don't want to talk to him."

"You have to come inside now. Brian's mad at you too."

"Then I definitely don't want to go back inside," I tell him.

"He'll get madder if you don't."

"That's ok with me," I say.

"Aren't you cold?"

"Yes, but I have my jacket."

"Come on, just come back inside."

"No, I'm staying out here with the puppy."

We hear the barn door open and the lights go on. "Heidi!" Brian yells as he walks towards us. "Come out and get back to the house!"

"No! You're mad at me and so is Adam. Guthrie told me."

"Get over here now!"

I still sit in my spot until I see Brian move his way past Guthrie and he grabs me under my armpit and pulls me up.

"Are you going to walk, or do I have to drag you back?" I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him. "Suit yourself," he says as he puts his hand under my armpit again and starts leading me out of the barn.

"No!" I yell as I try to pull away. "I'm not talking to Adam!" He squeezes harder and it hurts so I start to cry. "Ow! You're hurting me!"

"Are you gonna stop trying to get away?" He asks.

I don't answer him so he keeps squeezing and taking me towards the house. It hurts too much so I stop trying to get away and he leads me gentler to the house.

* * *

"Why did you tell Adam there was an emergency?!" Brian yells. "Do you know how worried he was?!"

I'm sitting on the couch crying and Brian is sitting on the coffee table in front of me like Adam always does when he wants to talk to me. I don't like that. I look up at Brian and shake my head no.

"I didn't mean to make him worry," I tell him. "I'm sorry. I didn't think...," I was going to say I didn't think 'about that', when I realize that's what Adam always tells me to do, think. I cover my face with my hands.

"Why'd you go hide in the barn when we _just_ talked about you not hiding when you do something wrong!" He's quiet for a minute and then he yells, "put your hands down and look at me!"

"No!" I yell. "You're yelling at me!"

He takes my hands and moves them away from my face. "Look at me," he says in a very serious voice, so I do.

"What?" I ask quietly.

"You are going to your room now for hiding from me and for calling the motel and leaving that emergency message for Adam. When Adam calls later tonight you _will_ talk to him. Got it?"

I nod my head.

"Good. Go to your room."

"Do I have to go to bed now?" I ask.

"No, but you're staying in your room for the rest of the night." He gets up and moves out of the way so I can get up.

I get up slowly and walk as slow as I can to the stairs. "This isn't a _fun_ week!" I mumble to myself as I walk upstairs. I look over at Guthrie and Brian and Guthrie's turning the radio on and Brian's walking over to the couch with a beer. Guthrie walks over to the bookcase and gets a deck of cards. By now I'm at my room and I go inside and flop myself down on my bed.

* * *

I've been in here for a half hour and I'm bored. It's 7:30 and I can hear them downstairs playing twenty-one. I guess I'll draw now. I get my markers and some paper and bring them to my doorway. I watch them playing in the living room and they're having fun. I sigh and sit in my doorway. I start to draw a horse but then I cross it out and decide to draw the puppy instead.

When I'm done drawing it I write "please take care of me" and then I draw a sad face. I fold the paper up into an airplane and write "to Guthrie" on one wing, and then I write "please open" on the other wing. I stand up and look at them. Brian's sitting on the couch and Guthrie's sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table dealing the cards. He has his back towards me so if I aim for his head I might be able to hit him. I aim my airplane at Guthrie and throw it. Then I quickly duck down so they can't see me.

"Hey!" Guthrie says. I laugh and then I hear him laugh. "Look Brian." I hear Brian laugh a tiny bit.

"Knock it off Heidi," Brian says and I giggle. He doesn't sound mad so I get another piece of paper and draw a picture of me with a sad face. Then I write "I'm sorry". I fold it up into an airplane and write, "to Brian", on one wing, and "please open" on the other wing. This time I step out into the hallway and aim for Brian. I throw it and watch as it flies right onto the coffee table. I laugh and Guthrie laughs too.

"Why do airplanes keep falling down here?" Brian says when he picks up my airplane and I laugh. I watch him open it and smile. Guthrie grabs it out of his hand and Brian looks up at me and points at me so I stand back in my doorway and smile.

They go back to playing their game and I sit down and start writing. "Dear Brian, I am sorry. I will not hide again and I am sorry I called the hotel. I am really really sorry. Will you forgive me?" I fold it up into an airplane and write Brian's name on the wing. I stand up and move out into the hallway and take aim. I have good aim because it lands on the coffee table again. I smile and Guthrie laughs. I watch Brian open it up and read it. He smiles and looks up at me.

"Ok twerp, go back in your room," he says.

"Do you forgive me?" I ask. I smile my biggest smile.

He smiles and says, "I'll think about it, now get back in there."

I decide to draw a picture of Brian and me holding hands and smiling. Then I write, "dear Brian, I am really sorry. Can I please come out?" I fold it up and fly it downstairs and it lands on the coffee table again.

"Perfect aim!" Guthrie yells up and laughs.

I watch Brian open the plane up and he smiles. "Can I?" I ask. "I promise I'll be good." I smile really big and say, "pleeeeeese?" He doesn't tell me to go back in my room right away. I can tell he's thinking and he looks up at me. "Pleeeeeeese?" I ask again.

"Ok," he says. "But when Adam calls, you have to talk to him."

"Ok!" I yell and I run downstairs. "Can I play?"

"Brian, Adam _never_ lets us out of our room," Guthrie tells him.

"Do you _see_ Adam here?" Brian asks.

"No," Guthrie says and laughs.

"Besides, it's almost your bedtime. It's just after eight o'clock," Brian says.

"But Adam's not here," I remind him. "You could let us stay up later."

"Not tonight. You're going to bed on time tonight," he says.

I sit down on the floor next to Guthrie. "Why? What are you gonna do when we go to bed?"

Guthrie deals the cards and Brian ignores me. We play a few hands but I don't win any of them. It's hard for me to play this game, but I try. We're laughing and joking around and Brian is being really fun. And then the phone rings.

We all look at each other and my stomach starts to hurt. Brian gets up and answers the phone.

"Hi," he says. "Yeah they're both right here." He holds the phone out and says, "Guthrie."

Guthrie gets up and takes the phone. "Hi! Yeah we're playing twenty-one. Guess what?! There's a wolf in the barn! Heidi thinks it's a puppy." There's a pause and then he says, "no, Brian said we couldn't feed him." He looks at Brian and says, "ok, goodnight." He holds the phone out to Brian. "He wants to talk to you."

Brian groans and takes the phone. "Hey." Brian listens and then he turns away from us and walks towards the kitchen dragging the phone with him. Then he starts talking quietly, "yeah, it's hurt. Heidi found it in the barn." He listens again and then says, "don't worry, I know, I'll take care of it."

Guthrie looks at me and I look at him and shrug my shoulders, but Guthrie looks sad. "What?" I ask.

He shakes his head at me. "Nothing."

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"Nothing! Stop asking!" He yells.

"Ok!" I yell back. "Jeez!"

Brian comes back with the phone and holds it out to me. I just stare up at him and don't take the phone.

"Take it," he says.

I shake my head no.

"Take it!" He says in a serious voice so I take it and hold the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I say quietly.

"Hi," Adam says. He's not yelling at me so that's good. "I hear you had a bad day today," he says.

I nod.

"Heidi?" He says.

"What?"

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

I shrug my shoulders.

"Heidi?"

"What?"

"Why aren't you answering me?"

"I _am_ answering you."

Brian takes the phone out of my hand and says, "hold on," to Adam. Then he says to me, "you have to _talk_ into the phone. You can't just nod and shrug your shoulders." He gives the phone back to me.

"Hi," I say quietly. "Are you mad at me?"

"I'm disappointed in you for hiding. I'm going to call your principal in the morning, and then I'm going to call home and talk to you before you go to school. Ok?"

"Ok."

"Please don't call the motel again. I only want you to call if Brian says you can. Ok?"

"Ok."

"Go get ready for bed now, and I'll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I say quietly.

"Oh, Heidi?" Adam says.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

I smile. "I love you too, Adam." And then we both say bye and I hang up the phone.

"Bedtime!" Brian says and Guthrie and I groan.

"Please, can we stay up later?" I ask.

Brian looks at the clock and says, "no, not tonight."

"Can I sleep in the boys' room?" I ask. "Please," I say smiling up at him.

"No! Are you kidding me? Don't you remember how tired you were the other day because you guys stayed up late talking? You're sleeping in your own bed tonight." He makes a bear growl and picks me up. I laugh and he says, "come on twerp," as he carries me upstairs.

* * *

"Brian, do you think the puppy is cold?" I ask as I get in bed.

"First of all, he's a wolf, and second, he lives outside. No, he's not cold."

I lay down and look up at Brian. "I think he is. I think we should cover him with a blanket."

"No, we shouldn't cover him up with a blanket."

I bet I could sneak out and cover him up. I bet Guthrie would help me. Then I wouldn't be scared of the dark.

"Hey," Brian says while shaking me a little. "I said, don't sneak out there to cover the 'wolf' with a blanket. Ok?"

I sigh. "Ok. I just feel so sad for him. Do you think he misses his mom? I think he does. And he's hurt. I bet he feels really bad. Do you...,"

"Stop!" Brian says. He smiles at me. "You worry too much. It's time to go to sleep."

"Ok, but I'm gonna feed it in the morning."

"No you're not. I'm not kidding Heidi. You know we can't take care of a wolf. I'm sure he'll be gone in the morning."

"He can't leave. He's hurt. He won't be able to walk away, we 'have' to take care of him."

"No. Now don't talk about it anymore. Do you want me to tell you a story or sing you a song?" He asks.

I giggle and smile up at him. "I want you to _read_ a book to me."

"What? You _never_ want me to read a book to you."

"Well tonight I do!" I smile at him.

"Ok, I'll get a book." He stands up and walks over to my stack of books in the corner of my room.

"I want you to read 'Cinderella' to me." I laugh because he looks at me and groans. He doesn't like reading princess books. I don't like them being read to me anymore, but it'll be fun to make Brian read one to me.

He goes through my books and finds Cinderella. "Are you sure?" He asks while holding up the book. His face looks funny and I can tell he doesn't want to read it. I nod my head and he sighs.

"And you can't skip parts, you have to read the _whole_ story. No skipping pages. I can read now so I'll know if you're skipping stuff."

He sits down on my bed. "The whole story? Aw, come on Heidi."

"Yep, the whole story!"

"Ok, here goes. Scoot over." I scoot over and he rests against the headboard. I take one of his arms and put it around my shoulders and then I lean against him. He holds the book up in his left hand so we can both look at it. "Once upon a time..."

I look at the first page and then I look up at Brian reading. He's doing a pretty good job of using different voices, but he's reading the words really fast. All of a sudden, he's looking down at me.

"You're not even listen to the story. Are you?" He asks.

"Yes I am." I smile at him.

"Yeah right," he says as he rolls his eyes at me. Then he starts reading again.

I look back at the book and start following along, but I lose interest fast. I hope the puppy is ok out in the barn all alone. I wonder if he's sleeping. I sigh and look back up at Brian. He looks down at me.

"What?" He asks.

I shrug my shoulders. "Nothing, just listening to the story."

He goes back to reading the story.

"Brian, when are you gonna get married?" I ask.

He drops the book and looks at me. "What?!"

"When are you gonna get married?"

"I don't know. Not now."

"Why not now?"

"Because right now I'm having fun," he says as he sits all the way up and looks at me.

"What does that mean? It's not _fun_ to be married?"

"Huh?"

"You said you're not married because you're having fun. What are you having fun doing?" I look up at him and he's just staring at me. Kind of like I do when I don't want to answer Adam. "Brian?"

"Huh?"

"What are you having fun doing?"

He looks at my clock and gets up. "Wow, look how late it is. It's time for you to go to sleep."

"It's not late. It's nine o'clock."

"Yeah, but I have to go say goodnight to Guthrie. So, goodnight Heidi." He leans down and kisses my forehead.

"Goodnight Brian." I watch him leave and then I stare up at the ceiling. I'm not tired at all. I think it's because I took a lot of naps today. I hear Brian tell Guthrie goodnight and then he walks by my room on his way downstairs. Hmm. What's he gonna do down there all by himself? Brian usually goes into town at night to hang out at the bar. He stays out late. So what's he gonna do now? I get up out of bed and crawl on the floor to my doorway. I sit in a spot where I don't think he can see me.

He's not in the living room. I think he's in the kitchen. Yep, now he's walking into the living room with a beer and a small piece of paper. He picks up the phone and looks at the paper and dials. He must be calling Adam. I try to listen but it's hard to hear.

He's smiling while he's talking and I think I hear him say, "you can come over now. They're asleep."


	6. Chapter 6

I wonder who Brian's talking to on the phone and what does he mean when he says 'you can come over now because they're asleep'? I watch him hang up the phone and then I scoot back away from my doorway because he's coming upstairs.

He's in the bathroom and I can hear him singing quietly and he sounds really happy. I think he's talking to himself now.

"You're gonna get lucky tonight," I hear him say.

I wonder what that means. I'll have to ask Guthrie tomorrow. Now I smell cologne. That's something my brothers put on when they're going out on a date. Wait a minute, is he going out on a date? He's gonna leave us here all alone? He can't do that! What if something bad happens? I better go ask him if he's leaving us alone. I stand up and quietly walk down the hall to the bathroom.

The door is open and Brian is brushing his teeth. That's weird. Why would he be brushing his teeth if he's going out on a date and not to bed? I stand in the doorway of the bathroom and when he sees me, he jumps.

"What are you doing out of bed?" He asks.

"I'm thirsty. Why are you wearing cologne?"

"No reason. I just felt like smelling nice," he says and then he finishes brushing his teeth.

"Are you going out on a date?"

He spits into the sink really quickly and then he looks at me. "No, why do you think that?" He looks nervous.

"Because you put cologne on and that's what you guys do when you go out on a date."

He laughs a little and says, "no, I'm not going out on a date." I glare at him and he smiles at me. "I promise. I would never leave you alone." He walks out of the bathroom and says, "get your drink and go back to bed."

He watches me get my cup and fill it with water. I look at him and ask, "are you sure you're not leaving us alone?"

Now he's glaring at me. "Yes, I'm sure! Get your drink and go back to bed!"

"Ok, ok!" I drink my water and put my cup down. I look up at him and glare at him while he glares back at me. "If you leave us alone I'm gonna call Adam."

"I'm not leaving you alone! Now get back in bed!"

I start walking back to my room and Guthrie comes out of his. "What's going on?" He asks.

"Brian's going out on a date and he's leaving us alone!" I yell really fast.

"No I'm not!" Brian yells really loud. "Get back in bed! Both of you!"

He scares me a little when he yells so I run back to my room and jump in my bed. Brian stands in my doorway and says, "now stay in here and go to sleep!"

I get under the covers and lay down and wait for him to go away. How am I supposed to go to sleep now when I know he's gonna leave us alone? I start to cry a little because I'm scared.

* * *

I've been looking at my clock now for a half hour and Brian hasn't left yet. I sit up and get out of bed. I grab my pillow and pull my blanket off my bed and drag it to my doorway. I stand back from the doorway a little bit so Brian won't be able to see me if he looks up here. What's he doing?

It looks like he's cleaning up the living room. He's putting the cards away and everything else that's laying around. He's whistling too. Now he's walking into the kitchen. I sit down on the floor and wait for him to come out. It doesn't take him long and when he does he's opening up a beer can. I sigh. That's a relief, because if he just got a new beer he's not gonna leave right now. He sits down on the couch and looks at the clock so I put my pillow on the floor in my doorway and lay down. I cover myself up with my blanket and wait. If I'm laying here it'll be much easier for me to hear the door open when he leaves.

He's not sitting down for long, so when I hear _him_ get up, I put _my_ head up. He's over by the radio. I watch him look through the tapes and when he finds the one he's looking for he puts it in. He turns it on and puts the sound down low but I can still hear it. The music sounds like a slow song, not a fast, happy song. I don't understand what he's doing. I wish I could sneak into Guthrie's room and ask him. Brian walks back over to the couch and sits down so I lay my head back down on my pillow.

In a few minutes I hear a knock on the front door. It's a soft knock, not a loud one. I lift my head up really fast. Who could be coming to our house at, I look at my clock, ten o'clock at night? Brian quickly walks to the door and opens it. He says hi to someone and the person walks in. It's Karen! What's 'she' doing here?

I can't see Brian's face because his back is to me, but I can see her face. She's smiling really big and turns around so he can take her jacket off. He hangs it up on a hook by the door and then asks her if she'd like a beer. She says yes so he tells her to take a seat on the couch while he goes into the kitchen to get one.

Karen doesn't sit down right away. She puts her purse on the coffee table and opens it up. I watch her take a small mirror out and some lipstick. She puts the lipstick on and when Brian walks in with her beer she quickly throws the stuff back in her purse.

"Thank you," she says as she takes the beer from Brian after he opens it. They sit down on the couch that has it's back to the stairs so I can only see the backs of their heads. They're sitting close together and talking.

"I'm glad you could come over," Brian says. He puts his arm around her and then they kiss. Yuck! But it's not a little kiss, it's a big kiss! They're not stopping! They keep kissing and then they sit up straighter so I can see their heads 'and' their shoulders. Karen lifts Brian's shirt off so they have to stop kissing for a second. Then they start kissing again and now he's unbuttoning her shirt! Adam and Hannah don't kiss like this on the couch! He puts his hands on her chest just above her breasts and slides his hands out to her shoulders so her shirt starts coming off and I can see her bra!

I stand up really fast and yell, "what are you doing!"

They both turn their heads up to look at me and Karen gasps a little and crosses her arms in front of her chest. It looks like she's hiding her bra but it's not working. She picks up her shirt and puts it back on while Brian yells, "get back in bed!" He stands up and walks fast to the stairs so I grab my pillow and blanket and run to my bed. By the time he gets to my doorway I'm sitting up in bed.

"You're supposed to be in bed!". He says quietly, but in a mad voice. I guess he's talking quietly so Karen won't hear. He's glaring at me.

"What are you doing down there?" I ask. "Why'd you take her shirt off?"

Again he says in a quiet mad voice, "we're just kissing!"

I glare at him. "You don't have to take her shirt off to kiss her!" I yell that loud enough so Karen can hear me.

"Sh!" Brian says as he comes in and sits on my bed.

"Are you guys gonna have sex?!" I yell.

Brian covers my mouth with his hand. "Sh! Be quiet! We're not having sex!"

I move my head around and try to grab his hand away from my mouth, so he puts his other hand behind my head to stop it from moving around. I try to talk but I can't. Now Guthrie's in my room.

"What are you doing?" He asks. "Why is Karen downstairs?"

I fight to get away as hard as I can and manage to yell, "she's here to have sex with Brian!" Then he's got me trapped again.

Guthrie's eyes get big and he looks at Brian.

"Go back to bed Guthrie!" Brian yells.

"Ok," he says and he leaves.

Brian's hands are starting to hurt me so my eyes start to water. He relaxes a little and says, "are you done yelling?"

I nod my head so he moves his hand away from my mouth. "Are you having sex on the couch?" I ask.

"No! Now go to sleep. If you get out of bed I'm gonna close your door."

"What if I have to go to the bathroom?"

"You already went."

"What if I'm thirsty?"

"You already got a drink. Now stay in bed. I mean it, if you get up, I'll shut your door."

"But why is she here so late? Is she gonna spend the night again?"

"No. Now stay in bed and give us some privacy. Ok?"

"Ok. But I still don't understand why she's here and why you guys are kissing with your shirts off. Are you trying to make a baby?"

"What?! No!"

"But don't you make a baby when you have sex?"

Brian groans and says, "not if you use..., never mind! Go to sleep!"

"Not if you use what?" I ask.

"No more questions! I'm leaving. If you come out of your room I'm closing your door." He stands up and starts to leave but then he stops and turns around. "If you talk or yell I'm gonna close it too!"

Darn. Well, I have a lot of questions to ask Guthrie tomorrow. Brian leaves and I hear him go downstairs. I listen as hard as I can, but I don't hear anything. I wonder what they're doing down there. I wonder if they're naked! Yuck! I keep on wondering things until I fall asleep.

* * *

I wake up when I hear Brian calling my name. "Get up Heidi. It's time to get ready for school."

I groan. "I don't want to get up."

"Get up!"

I sit up really fast when I remember what happened last night. "Is Karen still here? Did she spend the night? Did you guys have sex? Is she pregnant? Did you...,"

"Stop!" He yells. "She's not here! Get up and get ready for school!"

I get up so he leaves. I hurry and get dressed so I can go downstairs and ask more questions.

* * *

I run into the kitchen and say, "did...,"

"No!" Brian yells. "No questions! Eat your breakfast!"

"Can I ask questions?" Guthrie asks.

"No!" He yells.

Guthrie and I look at each other and smile.

Guthrie starts talking to me. "I wonder if Brian had sex last night, Heidi."

"I know. Do you think Karen spent the night?"

"I don't know," Guthrie says. "Maybe she's still in Brian's bed."

I laugh. "Guess what Guthrie, I saw Karen's bra last night and it was white."

Guthrie says, "really? How'd you see that?"

"Ha ha! Very funny!" Brian says. "Knock it off and eat your breakfast!"

I smile at Guthrie. "Guthrie, what does it mean when Brian says he's gonna get lucky?"

Guthrie spits his orange juice out and laughs. "It means...,"

"Alright stop!" Brian yells. "No talking either!"

Guthrie and I look at each other and laugh. "I'll tell you later," Guthrie says to me.

"You'd better not!" Brian yells at him. "Now eat! You two are driving me crazy!"

We smile at each other and then I look up at Brian and say, "isn't this _fun_?"

"Ha, ha. Laugh all you want to now, but you're not gonna be laughing when that phone rings and you have to talk to Adam."

That makes me feel sad so I stop smiling and my eyes start to water.

Brian sits down next to me and says, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Come here kid." He puts his hands under my armpits and lifts me up and onto his lap.

"Brian, I don't want to go to school today."

"I know." He kisses my forehead. "Guthrie, go brush your teeth and get out to the bus stop."

Guthrie leaves and Brian keeps hugging me. "Brian, when do you think Adam's going to call?"

"Not for a while. First he has to wait for school to start so he can talk to Mr. Brick." Brian holds me for a while until Guthrie comes down to say goodbye.

"Bye," I say to him. Brian puts me down.

"I'm going to go take a shower. If the phone rings answer it."

We walk into the living room and I sit on the couch while he goes upstairs. Then I remember the puppy! I've got to feed him! I'd better do it fast before Brian's done in the shower. I get up and run into the kitchen. I take the last piece of bacon left on the plate and get some more lunchmeat out of the fridge. Then I run out the back door and over to the barn as fast as I can. I've got to hurry!

* * *

When I get out to the barn and go inside, I can hear the puppy whimpering. I walk over to the corner and when he sees me he wags his tail.

"Hi, little puppy." I smile at him and put the food down next to the little water tin. He gets up and hobbles over to the food and eats it up fast. He must be so hungry! He needs more water so I take the tin and run to the faucet and fill it up. When I set it back down for him he drinks it quickly.

"Poor little puppy. I wish I could stay home with you today, but I have to go to school. I know Brian doesn't want me to feed you, but I'll save some of my lunch for you, and when I get home I'll feed it to you. Ok?" He wags his tail and looks up at me with his sad eyes. "I'm sorry, but I have to go back to the house now. I have to be back before Brian's done with his shower." I pet his head and then I stand up. He starts to whimper and I feel sorry for him, but I have to get back to the house. I run away and I can hear the puppy whimpering loudly as I'm leaving.

When I get back to the house I sneak in the back door and walk into the living room. I look upstairs and see the bathroom door is still closed. Good, I made it. I sit down on the couch and I hope the phone doesn't ring for a long, long time.

* * *

I'm looking at a book when Brian comes downstairs. "No phone call yet?" He asks.

"No. I'm tired of waiting."

"He should call pretty soon. I'm gonna go clean up in the kitchen. Come help me."

I get up and slowly follow him into the kitchen and the phone rings. My stomach starts to hurt. Brian walks over to the big desk and answers the phone.

"Hello?" Then he's quiet for a long time. "Yeah. Ok." He looks at me and hands me the phone. I shake my head no. "Take it!" He yells so I take it out of his hands.

"Hello?"

"Hi. I talked to Mr. Brick. He doesn't want you to hide anymore. If you do, you're suspended." He pauses and I think he's waiting for me to say something so I say, "ok."

"If you hide at school and get suspended, I'm going to ground you for a month. That means no riding Lucy either." He pauses again.

"Ok."

"You're going to talk to Mr. Brick when you get to school. You're going to apologize to Mr. Brick and then 'he' wants you to apologize to Mrs. Smith."

"How am I supposed to do that when she's a substitute teacher and won't be at school?"

"She's going to be your sub again today."

"What!" I yell. "I'm not going to school today then!"

"Yes you are," Adam says in his serious voice.

"No I'm not! I'm just gonna get in trouble again! I'm not going and you're not here so you can't make me!" I hang up the phone.

"What are you doing?!" Brian yells.

"I'm not going to school! Mrs. Smith is going to be my sub again today!"

Brian groans and the phone rings. "You know who that is."

"I'm NOT talking to him!"

Brian answers the phone and listens. Then he says, "ok," and hands the phone to me. I glare at him and sit on the couch and fold my arms across my chest. "You're gonna talk to him!" Brian yells. I shake my head no. He puts the phone back up to his ear and says, "she's not budging." He listens for a second and then says, "ok." He holds the phone up to my ear and when I try to move he sits down on the couch and holds me still. I cover my ears with my hands. "God dammit Heidi! Knock it off!" Brian yells and he sets the phone on the couch and pulls my hands down.

I glare at him and he puts his hands on the sides of my cheeks and squeezes my face and it kind of hurts. "You are going to talk! Got it?!" I try to nod my head and he takes his hands away. "Pick up the phone!"

I pick it up and say, "hello."

"Don't you EVER hang up on me again! Do you hear me?!" Adam yells.

I start crying hard and say, "yes."

"You are going to listen to me now and you're going to listen good! You ARE going to school and you are going to go NOW! Don't EVER tell me you're not going to do what I say because I'm not there! I'm your...I'm your DAD, and you're gonna do what I say whether you like it or not! Do you understand me?!"

I nod my head. "I'm sorry. I won't do that again," I tell him and I start crying really hard again. When he said the word dad I felt really bad. It felt like I really disappointed him. "I'm sorry Adam," I cry.

"Good! Now put Brian back on the phone!" He yells, so I hand the phone to Brian and I get up and run upstairs to my room.

* * *

The ride to school is quiet. Brian has the radio on low and neither one of us is singing. When he pulls into the parking lot and parks my stomach starts to hurt.

"Ready?" Brian asks me.

"No."

"Come on, it'll be ok. I'm coming in with you."

We get out of the car and walk to the office. Once we're there Brian opens the door and takes off his hat.

"Good morning, Brian, Heidi," the secretary says. "Why don't you sit on the bench. Mr. Brick will be with you in a minute."

We sit on the bench and I look in Mr. Brick's office and see he's talking to an eighth grader.

"I hate this bench!" Brian says.

I look up at him and smile. "Me too! Was Mr. Brick your principal too?"

"No. Mr. Dirtbag was his name." He smiles down at me. "I mean, Mr. Durby."

I laugh and then Brian stops smiling and looks at the principal's office. I look too and the student is coming out and Mr. Brick calls us in. When we walk in we sit in the two chairs facing Mr. Brick's desk.

"Hello Brian," he says. "Thank you for bringing Heidi to school. I'm sure you understand why I couldn't let her come back until I talked to Adam."

Brian doesn't say anything and I look up at him and he looks a tiny bit mad to me.

"Heidi," Mr. Brick says to me, "I am very disappointed you didn't come to the office when you were told to. Hiding is not allowed. You will be suspended the next time you do that."

He's staring at me like I'm supposed to say something back. "I'm...sorrrry?" I say. I hope that's what he wants me to say. I hear Brian make a little sound and when I look up at him he doesn't look mad anymore, but when I look back at Mr. Brick, he does.

"I should hope you are sorry," he says. Then he starts saying other stuff that I don't listen to. He just goes on and on about something. I glance up at Brian and he's glaring at the principal. I look down at his hand that's gripping the arm of his chair. He's holding onto it so tightly his knuckles are turning white. Wow! I wonder why he's so mad. Maybe I should listen. "And another thing, asking Mrs. Smith to help you because she wasn't 'doing anything', was _not_ ok!"

I interrupt him. "But she _wasn't_ doing anything! She was just sitting at the teacher's desk staring out into space!" Well, maybe that last part wasn't true, but she really wasn't doing anything.

"Don't interrupt me!" Mr. Brick yells.

"Hey!" Brian yells. "You don't need to yell at her!"

Now Mr. Brick is glaring at Brian. Uh-oh, this can't be good! They're both glaring at each other. I know that look on Brian's face. He wants to punch him!

"Mr. McFadden, I don't allow 'children' to interrupt me," Mr. Brick says. He sounds mad.

I laugh. "Mr. McFadden! That's funny!" Now Mr. Brick is glaring at me again.

"This is not funny," he says to me, but he's not yelling.

"Mr. Brick, Mrs. Smith was making us do the wrong math page. None of us knew how to do it! That's why I got in trouble."

"You got in trouble because you drew a bad picture and hid in the bathroom when you were sent to the office."

I thought it was a good picture! I'd better not say that though.

Brian starts talking again, "don't you think the teacher should've listened to the kids when they told her it was the wrong page?"

"It's a substitute Mr. McFadden." I laugh again until Mr. Brick glares at me and then says to Brian, "kids are always trying to fool substitute teachers."

"Even the good ones?" I ask.

Brian laughs a tiny bit and then he clears his throat. "Mr. Brick, you've talked to Adam, Heidi has apologized to you and now she needs to apologize to Mrs. Smith. Is there anything else? I've got a lot of work to do on the ranch seeing as how I'm the only one home."

"No, I suppose not. Heidi, I'll take you to your class so you can apologize to Mrs. Smith."

"When I'm done apologizing can you tell her not to look at me today, or talk to me?" I ask. "I don't want to get in trouble again."

Brian laughs but Mr. Brick does not. "No I am NOT going to do that!" He yells. He points his finger at me and says, "YOU keep yourself out of trouble today!"

"Well it'd be a whole lot easier if you would tell her that. Can you at least tell her to make sure she has us do the right math page today?"

Brian laughs a little again and accidentally says out loud, "I don't know how Adam does this."

That makes me laugh and Mr. Brick says, "he doesn't let her talk to me like that! That's how he does it."

"That's not true!" I laugh. "I talk to you like this all the time! It's just how I talk!" I look up at Brian and tell him, "usually Adam puts his hand on top of mine or on my knee and he squeezes it when he wants me to stop talking, or when he wants me to listen. Sometimes Mr. Brick just goes on and on when he talks and I stop listening." I can tell Brian is trying not to laugh or smile and I guess Mr. Brick can see that to 'cause he looks mad.

"Why don't you take Heidi home with you," Mr. Brick says to Brian. "She can come back when Adam can come in and talk with me."

Brian doesn't like that. "No, she's staying here." He looks down at me and says, "Heidi apologize to Mr. Brick for being rude." He rolls his eyes at me so I smile and apologize. "There. Now she just needs to apologize to Mrs. Smith. I'll go to the class with you guys and then I'm going home."

I look at Mr. Brick. He doesn't look very happy, but then again, he never looks happy around me. He stands up and says, "let's go."

I walk out of the office first and they follow me to my classroom.

* * *

Mr. Brick opens the door to my classroom and motions for Mrs. Smith to come over. When she comes to the door Mr. Brick says, "Heidi has something she'd like to say to you." Everyone looks at me.

"I'm sorry," I tell her. That's all I say.

Brian is standing behind me with his hands on my shoulders and he leans down and whispers, "what are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry for drawing a picture of you." Mr. Brick and Mrs. Smith still look at me like they're expecting me to say something else. I'm getting frustrated. "I don't know what else you want me to say! I'm sorry."

Brian kisses the top of my head and says, "bye twerp. I'll see you when you get home today."

They look at him like they're shocked and I walk into the classroom and sit down at my seat. My friend Denise still isn't here. Mrs. Smith comes back in to the classroom and starts talking to the whole class. I try my best not to look at her or listen to her. I already have to stay in the office for all my recesses so there's nothing else for them to take away if I get in trouble. The only thing left to do is to send me home again or suspend me. I'm going to try to be good this whole day.

* * *

The bus ride home seems long today. I made it through the school day without getting into too much trouble. I got my name written on the board, but that's it. Now I can't wait to see the puppy. When I get off the bus Guthrie and I walk home together.

"I can't wait to see the puppy!" I tell him.

"Heidi, I don't think he's gonna be in the barn."

"Why not? He was there this morning when I fed him breakfast."

"You fed him breakfast? You weren't supposed to do that."

"I even saved him some of my lunch." I hold up my lunch bag.

"I can't believe he was still there." Guthrie looks surprised.

"Why wouldn't he be?"

Guthrie shrugs his shoulders and looks sad. "It's just strange that he was still there. He shouldn't have been."

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"Nothing. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

We're quiet for a while and I kick at the dirt on the side of the road as we walk home. "Guthrie what do you think Brian meant when he said he was going to get lucky last night?"

Guthrie laughs. "He told you that? He told you he was going to get lucky?!"

"No, he was talking to himself when he said it. What does it mean?"

"It means he was going to have sex! Wait until I tell Evan and Ford!"

"Why does that mean he's lucky? Having sex makes you lucky?" I ask.

"No. It just means he was going to have it."

"Oh." I don't really get it. Then I remember something else Brian had said. "Guthrie, Brian said you can't get pregnant if you use a, and then he stopped talking. If you use a what?"

Guthrie laughs again.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. I don't think I should tell you," he says.

"Why not?"

"Because I think I'd get in trouble, and I don't want to explain it to you." He laughs again. "You should ask Adam when he calls tonight!"

"Ok." Guthrie thinks that's really funny.

"Do you think Karen is pregnant? They had sex two times. I bet she's pregnant!" That makes me really excited. We're almost to the house now. "You go inside, I'm gonna go feed the puppy." I run off towards the barn.

* * *

"Guess what, little puppy? Brian's gonna have a baby! Well, he's not, but his girlfriend Karen is and they had sex so it's Brian's too." The puppy wags his tail at me and lets me pet him. I already fed him the rest of my lunch and gave him some fresh water. "How's your leg feeling?" I reach out to touch it and I barely touch it and he starts crying. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." I pet his head again. "I'd better go inside now. I'm not supposed to be feeding you, but I'll bring you some of my dinner." I pet the puppy one last time and then I get up to leave. He starts crying and I feel sad. "I'm sorry, I wish I could bring you inside, but I can't." I walk out of the barn and the puppy cries the whole time.

* * *

"Brian, can I call Hannah?" I ask. We're getting ready to go grocery shopping so we can get some ice cream.

"Why?"

"I want to ask her a question."

"Why can't you ask me?"

"You won't know the answer. Only Hannah knows the answer."

Brian sighs. "I guess so. But hurry up. When Guthrie is ready I want to go."

"Thanks!" I run to the desk and find the number. I pick up the phone and dial.

"Motel six, how can I help you?" It sounds like the same man from yesterday. I groan.

"I need to talk to Hannah McFadden."

"What room number?"

"I don't know. Can you look it up?"

He sighs. "What's the name again?"

"Hannah McFadden."

A minute goes by and the man says, "there is no Hannah McFadden registered at this hotel. Are you sure you have the right hotel?"

"Yes! I called you yesterday. She's really not there?"

"Nope."

I hang up the phone. "Brian!" I yell. I don't see him down here.

"What?!" He yells running in from the laundry room. "What's wrong?"

"Hannah's not at the hotel!"

"So?"

"So! Where is she then?"

"Out? What's wrong? They're not gonna be in the room all day."

"The man said she wasn't there!"

"What man?

"The man I talked to at the hotel!"

"There was a man in their room? What are you talking about?"

"I don't know anymore! You're confusing me!" I yell.

Brian walks over to the phone and dials the hotel. I listen to him talk and then he says hi to Hannah.

"What? I don't think I like this hotel!" I yell. Brian hands me the phone. "Hi Hannah."

"Hi. How are you?"

"Good. Hannah, I have to ask you a question."

"Ok, what?" She asks.

"Do you know how to fix a broken leg?" I ask.

"What?" She says.

"What?!" Brian yells.

I look up at him and I hear Hannah say, "what do you mean Heidi?"

I look at Brian when I ask her, "do you know how to fix a broken leg?"

Brian glares at me while I listen to Hannah say, "no. Did someone break a leg?" I can hear Adam in the background and then I hear his voice on the phone.

"Who broke a leg Heidi?" He asks.

"I don't know. I just wanted to know if she could fix a broken leg."

"You expect me to believe that's why you called?! Is Brian there?"

"Yes." There's a long a pause.

"Are you getting him?"

"No. Did you want me to? I thought you just wanted to know if he was here."

Adam sighs and says, "yes. Give the phone to Brian."

I hold the phone out to Brian. "He wants to talk to you." He takes the phone.

"Yeah," he says and then he waits. "I don't know what she's talking about." He looks at me. "What are you talking about?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Can I just talk to Hannah?"

"Adam says no. Tell me what you're talking about," Brian says.

"I want to know if she can fix the puppy's leg."

Brian looks surprised and then he groans. "You heard that?" He says into the phone. "I know Adam, I'm sorry but I forgot." He takes the phone closer to the kitchen and starts talking quietly. The only thing I can hear clearly is, "I'll take care of it." Then he hangs up the phone.

"Wait, I wanted to talk to Hannah," I tell him. "And what are you going to take care of?"

"Nothing." He tells me and then he yells upstairs, "let's go Guthrie!"

"Coming!" Guthrie yells.

"Hey Brian, can we buy puppy food at the store?" I ask.

"No! Quit talking about the puppy, I mean the wolf. I told you not to feed the wolf, you're not doing that are you?" He asks.

I stare at him.

"You are, aren't you?!" Guthrie comes running down the stairs. "Guthrie are you feeding the wolf too?"

He stops on the bottom step. "No."

Brian looks at both of us. "Don't feed it!" He grabs his jacket off the hook and says, "let's go!"

Guthrie and I grab our jackets too and follow him out to the jeep.

* * *

"Can we buy gum?" I ask Brian while we're in the candy isle at the grocery store.

"Yeah, one pack. You and Guthrie pick out one you can agree on."

We pick out bubble gum and put it in the shopping cart. "Can we get M&M'S?" Guthrie asks. Brian nods as he puts sunflower seeds in the cart. Then we go down the cookie and chip isle and put a bunch of stuff in the cart. We follow Brian around the store and he lets us buy a bunch of junk food.

"I like going shopping with you Brian," Guthrie says.

"Yeah," I say, "you let us buy all kinds of stuff!"

"Yeah, well, just remember, don't tell Hannah I bought you all this crap."

"Hey, you said crap!" I yell and laugh. Guthrie laughs too.

"Ok, you two, it's not that funny. Let's go get the ice cream." We follow him to the back of the store where the frozen stuff is. As we're walking back there I see the pet food isle.

"I'll be right back," I whisper to Guthrie. He looks where I'm going and follows me.

"He won't buy dog food, Heidi."

"He might. I'm just gonna put it in the shopping cart with the chip bags," I tell him.

Guthrie shakes his head and says, "it's not gonna work."

I shrug my shoulders, "we'll see." I look at all the dog food and find the puppy food. I pick up a small bag that's about the size of a chip bag and go to catch up with Brian.

"Heidi, don't put it in the cart," Guthrie says. "The puppy's not gonna be around."

I stop and turn to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"I just mean, he's probably gonna leave soon."

"How's he gonna do that?" I ask and Guthrie looks sad.

"Never mind," he says.

I run to the shopping cart and sneak the puppy food in with the chip bags when Brian's not looking. "Hey, can we buy popsicles?" I ask.

"Just put it in the cart," he says.

"This is fun!" I say. "You should do all the grocery shopping all the time!"

"Just don't tell Hannah. Or Adam." Brian says.

"We won't," Guthrie says.

We pick out ice cream and put it in the cart and then walk to the front of the store. "Can I put all the stuff on the counter?" I ask. Maybe he won't see the puppy food if I put it on the counter.

When we get to the checkout counter Guthrie and I start unloading the cart while Brian talks to the guy in line behind us. The store worker puts the puppy food in the shopping bag. I lay the bag of M&M's on top of it. Perfect! Brian pays and we carry the bags out to the jeep.

"Can we eat a popsicle on the way home?" I ask.

"Sure."

Guthrie and I look through the bags until we find the popsicle box and we open it. "I want a purple one!" Guthrie hands me a purple one and takes a red one for himself. "Do you want one Brian?"

"Yeah, give me an orange one." Guthrie finds an orange one and gives it to Brian. We all get in the jeep and then Brian gets out and says, "I'll be back in a minute."

"Where's he going?" Guthrie asks as we watch him run across the street.

"I don't know."

He walks up to a girl. She's smiling at him. "Who's that?" Guthrie asks.

"She has black hair so she's not Karen," I say. "Do you think he has two girlfriends?"

"I don't know. She's pretty. She smiles a lot too."

"Yeah."

Brian runs back over to us and gets in the jeep.

"Who was that?" Guthrie asks.

Brian starts the jeep. "No one," he says.

I'm in the back seat so I stand up behind his seat and say in his ear, "yes it was! It was a girl!"

Brian turns around and pushes me down so I'm sitting on the seat. "Knock it off!" He sounds mad, but his eyes look happy.

"I thought your girlfriend was Karen," I tease.

"I don't have a girlfriend," he says as he starts driving.

"What?" I ask. "What about Karen, and the baby?"

Brian says, "what?! What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Ooh, you said hell!" I yell and Guthrie laughs.

"Ok," Brian says, "what the 'heck' are you talking about Heidi?"

"You and Karen had sex, so she must be pregnant."

"Who told you that?" Brian asks as he glares at Guthrie.

"I didn't tell her that!" Guthrie says. "She just figured that out on her own."

Brian groans. "Heidi, there's no baby."

"But you had sex."

"Would you stop saying that! Stop talking about sex and babies!"

"Ok, but I know you did it, so I know you're gonna have a baby," I lean back in the seat and eat my popsicle.

"I can still hear you!" Brian yells and he turns the radio on really loud and we all sing the rest of the way home.

* * *

We're having spaghetti tonight so I'm stirring the noodles. "Brian, when are you gonna prank us back?"

"Sh!" Guthrie says. "Don't remind him!"

"Oh, I didn't forget," Brian says. "I'm just waiting for the right time." He pours some hot sauce in his spaghetti sauce and stirs it in.

"Oh. When's the right time?" I ask.

"Don't worry you'll know when it's time. Guthrie go turn the radio on."

The song that comes on is a good one. We all sing and dance a little as we're getting dinner ready. I'm having fun until I start thinking about the puppy. It's dark outside and I forgot to feed him! I walk close to Guthrie and whisper, "I have to feed the puppy."

He whispers back, "pretend you're going to the bathroom. I'll cover for you. Turn the light on in the bathroom and shut the door. That way it will look like you're really in there. Don't stay out in the barn too long, ok?"

I nod my head. "I'll be back!" I yell as I start running out of the kitchen.

"Hey where are you going? I still need you to stir the sauce," Brian says.

"Bathroom!" I yell as I run into the living room. I quickly run upstairs to my room where I hid the puppy food. It's under my bed. I pull it out and open the bag. I don't have anything to put the food in! I look around my room and I don't see anything I can use as a dish so I decide to take the whole bag outside with me. I grab my flashlight and the bag and run to the bathroom. After I turn the light on and shut the door, I run downstairs and out the front door. The radio is on loud enough so that no one can probably hear me leave.

* * *

It's dark outside. Very dark! I'm afraid of the dark still, that's why I sleep with my little pink lamp on at night. My flashlight doesn't give off a whole lot of light but it's all I have so I try not to think about how dark it is. I can't run either because it's too dark, so I try to walk as fast as I can.

Once I open the door to the barn I her the puppy start whimpering. I run over to him and put my flashlight on the ground. I balance it so the light is facing up towards the ceiling and then I say hi to the puppy. Brian and Guthrie are wrong. The puppy's not going to leave.

"You're a good puppy," I say as I pour some puppy food on the ground for him. He wags his tail and hobbles over to it. He likes it! He eats it all really fast so I give him more. He needs more water so I pick up the water tin and grab my flashlight. The faucet is outside so I have to be quick.

I look over at the house when I'm outside. I have to hurry. I fill the tin at the faucet and carry it back into the barn and over to the puppy. The puppy wags his tail as he drinks the water. I sit down next to him and pet him. "Ok, I need to think of a name for you. Gray? No. Silver? No. Larry? No." I can't think of anything good! The puppy hobbles over to me and sits in my lap. He looks up at me and I swear he looks like he's smiling! That's it! "Your name is Happy!" Happy wags his tail and licks my hand as I pet him. I laugh and kiss the top of his head.

"Heidi!" I hear Brian yell.

Oh my gosh! I don't know how long I've been in here. I grab my flashlight and the bag of dog food and look for a place to hide.

"Brian, I told you she's not out here!" Guthrie yells. The barn door is starting to creak open and just as the lights go on, I sit down behind some barrels in the corner of the barn right across from Happy's corner. I can see him if I peek around one of the barrels.

"Heidi get away from that wolf!" Brian yells as he walks over to Happy.

"See, I told you she wasn't out here. She's probably playing hide and go seek in the house." Guthrie looks around the barn while he says that. I think he's looking for me.

"I hope you're right and she's inside the house, because I'm going inside for a minute and when I come back out here this wolf problem will be gone!"

I wonder what he means by that. Is he gonna take Happy somewhere?


	7. Chapter 7

Brian walks towards the barn door but Guthrie stays with Happy. "Are you gonna stay out here and watch?" Brian asks him.

I can see Guthrie's face and it looks sad. "Yes," he says sadly.

"Suit yourself," Brian says as he picks up his lantern. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He walks out of the barn and Guthrie whispers, "Heidi!"

I stand up and say, "I'm over here!" I come out from behind the barrels with the bag of dog food and my flashlight in my hands. "What's Brian going to the house for?" I ask.

"Heidi, you need to go back to the house!" He says.

"I don't want to. Happy liked the puppy food." I walk over to Happy and sit down next to him. I put my flashlight down and the dog food. "I named him Happy. Don't you think that's a good name?" I look at Guthrie and it looks like he's gonna cry. "What's wrong?" I ask him.

"Heidi, you HAVE to leave!" He yells. He starts pulling me by grabbing on to my arm.

"Stop!" I yell.

He stops and starts crying. "Heidi, please come with me."

"Ok. What's wrong? Why are you crying?" I stand up and grab my flashlight. I pet Happy goodbye and walk towards the barn door with Guthrie. "Guthrie, please tell me what's wrong!" I stop walking and he turns around and looks at me, and then I know. "No!" I yell and Guthrie nods his head yes. "No! I won't let him!" I run back to Happy.

"Heidi, come on! Brian's gonna be back any minute!"

"No!" I throw my flashlight on the ground and pick up Happy as best as I can by holding him like a baby. He doesn't try to get away, but he looks a little sad. "I'm not gonna let him kill Happy!"

"You can't stop him Heidi," he says. "You can't have a wolf for a pet. He's hurt too. He's in pain."

"But Hannah's here now. She can fix him. She's real good at helping people that are hurt."

"Yeah, she's good at helping _people_, Guthrie says, "not wolves."

"You don't know that!" I look in Happy's eyes and I feel so sad for him. "Guthrie, I have a plan."

"What? Whatever it is, we better do it fast."

"Help me take Happy to the house. We'll do it so Brian can't see us. Then I'll call Hannah and see if she can help. Then she can tell Brian not to hurt Happy."

"It'll never work," Guthrie says.

"But, we at least have to try. Help me take him out the back of the barn, and then we'll try to sneak over to the house and hide Happy inside." I look at Guthrie and say, "please?"

"Ok, let's go," he says. "We'll sneak him upstairs to my room and then you can call Hannah."

Guthrie picks up my flashlight and opens the door at the back of the barn. We walk around the side of the barn and look at the house. We don't see or hear Brian anywhere. "We're gonna have to walk to the house in the dark," Guthrie says. "If I turn the flashlight on, he'll know where we are."

"Ok." I walk carefully to the house with Happy and when we reach the white picket fence, we hide behind a bush near it.

"Let me find out where he is," Guthrie says. He sneaks up to the porch steps and hides in the shadows beside them. The porch light is on near the front door, but not the one at the back door. Guthrie sneaks around to the back porch steps and goes up them to the kitchen window and peeks in. Then I see him move around the porch to peek in one of the living room windows. He watches for a while and then he sneaks back over to me.

"He's in the living room getting his shotgun ready. We can go wait by the back door and when he comes out the front door, we'll go inside and sneak upstairs."

"What if he comes back before I can talk to Hannah?" I whisper.

Guthrie looks like he's thinking about that and then he looks at me and whispers, "we'll lock the doors."

I like our plan. I follow Guthrie to the back porch steps making sure to stay in the shadows. I'm glad Happy's not making any noise. I think he's happy. When we get to the steps, we walk up them quietly and crouch down in the shadow by the back door. It's hard to wait in that position especially while I'm holding Happy, but we hear the front door open and then close, so we stand up. Guthrie quietly opens the back door and lets me in. Then he closes the door quietly and locks it.

I don't see or hear Brian and I hope he's really outside. We sneak into the living room and over to the stairs. Guthrie locks the front door and we run upstairs to the boys' room.

* * *

"Where should we hide him?" I ask Guthrie.

"I don't think we need to hide him. Let's just let him lay on the bottom of the bunk bed."

I set Happy down on the bed and he curls up in a little ball. He lays his head down and his eyes look up at me. He looks sad. I don't think he feels good.

"Go get the phone number for the hotel," I tell Guthrie. "I'll get the phone."

Guthrie runs downstairs and I take the phone off the little table in the hallway and drag it into the bedroom. When Guthrie comes back with the number, I tell him to dial. "I can't call unless I get Brian's permission," I tell him.

Guthrie dials the number and asks for Adam's room.

"No, I want to talk to Hannah." I tell him.

"I know, but the room is in Adam's name, not hers." Guthrie waits for a little bit and then says, "hi."

"Who is it?" I mouth to him.

"Adam," he mouths back. "No, nothing's wrong," he says into the phone. "I just need to ask Hannah something. Can I talk to her?" He's quiet for a minute and then says, "no, it's kind of a question only Hannah can answer." He shrugs his shoulders at me. "No, Heidi's not here. She's downstairs doing her homework. I really need to talk to Hannah." Guthrie puts his thumb up so I assume he gets to talk to Hannah.

"Hi Hannah, Heidi really needs to talk yo you about the baby wolf. Will you talk to her? You can't tell Adam though, well, you can, just not _yet_." Guthrie holds out the phone for me to take and I grab it.

"Hannah, Brian's gonna kill Happy! Please make him stop! He..,"

"Woah! Slow down Hei..., Guthrie. Tell me what's happening."

"Brian's going to shoot Happy."

"Who's Happy?" She asks.

"The baby wolf. Hannah, his leg is hurt. Maybe you can fix it and he'll be better. Can you? You can't let him kill Happy!"

"I can't fix a wolf's leg." I can hear Adam talking to her and asking for the phone. "Just a minute Adam," she says. I can hear him yelling for the phone. "Hold on Guthrie, let me think about this for a minute, and talk to Adam."

"No! You can't tell him!"

"Just let me think," she says.

I can hear banging on the front door and Brian yelling, "Guthrie! Heidi! Open the door. Get down here NOW and unlock this door!" He keeps banging on it, and then he says, "I'll break the door in!" Guthrie walks out to the hallway.

"Hurry Hannah! He's coming!" I yell into the phone. I hear loud banging on the front door and Guthrie runs in and slams the bedroom door shut and locks it just as the front door opens with a loud bang. Guthrie gets the wooden chair that's in the bedroom and puts it underneath the doorknob. Guthrie looks scared and I feel scared. Happy starts to whimper.

"Open this door right now, or I'll break this one down too!" Brian yells at us through the bedroom door.

"Hannah? I need help! Brian's here and he's mad!" I start crying really hard.

"Heidi, this is what we're going to do. I'll call a special animal hospital I know and they'll come get Happy. Then the can help Happy and when he's old enough they'll put him back out in the wild. Adam said that was ok too."

"So Brian's not gonna shoot him?"

"No."

Brian is banging hard on the door and Guthrie's yelling at him to stop. He's telling Brian I'm on the phone with Hannah.

"Hannah, can I visit Happy at the special hospital?"

The phone is quiet for a minute and then she says, "no, it's very far away."

"Who's gonna tell Brian not to shoot him?"

"I'll let Adam do that," she says. "Tell Brian, Adam wants to talk to him."

"He's really mad Hannah. He already broke down the front door."

"What?!" Adam says.

"I thought you were Hannah," I say quietly.

"Tell Brian I want to talk to him. Now!" He yells.

"Guthrie, Adam wants to talk to Brian."

Guthrie yells over Brian's yells. "Adam wants to talk to you!"

"Then open the door so I can use the phone!" He yells.

"No!" We both say and Guthrie says, "use the phone downstairs."

We can hear Brian walking away as he yells, "I'm gonna kill you when you come out of there!"

I yell in to the phone, "Adam! Brian said he's gonna kill us!"

Adam sighs and says, "he's not going to do that."

I'm not so sure about that. Then I hear Brian pick up the phone. "What, Adam!" He says. He sounds very mad!

"Heidi hang up the phone now," Adam says.

"No way! I wanna here how you're gonna stop him from killing us!"

"Hang up the phone now!" Adam yells, so I do.

"What did Hannah say?" Guthrie asks.

"She said Happy could go to a special animal hospital and they'll fix him."

Guthrie looks at me kind of funny. "There's not a special a...," he starts to say, and then he says, "when's he gonna go there?"

"Tomorrow while we're at school."

"Oh," Guthrie says sadly.

"I know, I'm sad too because Hannah said it was too far away for us to visit."

"Guthrie! Heidi! Get down here!" Brian yells.

"No!" I yell. "I'm afraid of you! I want to talk to Adam!" I pick up the phone but no one's on it.

"They went to eat dinner, which is was what we need to do now! Come out! Guthrie, open the door!"

He looks at me and I shake my head no. "Are you holding your shotgun?" I yell.

"No!"

"Are the bullets out of it?" He doesn't answer me. "Are they?"

"Yes," he says.

"I don't believe you!"

"Then come down here and look."

"Heidi," Guthrie says, "he's not gonna hurt us, or Happy. You know that. I'm gonna open the door."

Guthrie moves the chair out of the way and opens the door. I sit down on the bed next to Happy and pet him.

Guthrie leaves the bedroom and Brian says, "what were you thinking, locking me out of the house?!"

Guthrie yells, "you couldn't just shoot him right in front of her!"

"She knows what happens on a ranch. We've killed hurt animals before."

"But, she's never watched, and she never took care of the hurt animals like she has with Happy."

"Who's Happy?"

"The puppy!" I yell downstairs.

"That's why I told you guys not to feed it or go see it. Now he has a name? Guthrie you know better than that," Brian says.

"I didn't name him, she did. I also didn't feed him either."

"I saw the dog food bag in the barn. Where'd you guys get that? Did you steal it?"

"No!" I yell down. "You bought it!"

"I did not!"

Guthrie says, "yes you did. She hid it in the shopping cart when we went grocery shopping."

"What?! Never mind. Come downstairs and eat dinner. It's getting late. Heidi, bring the wolf cub down here. We'll put him back in the barn after dinner."

I pick up Happy and carry him with me out into the hall. "Do you promise you're not going to shoot him?"

Brian glares at me and says, "yes, I promise. Now get down here."

I walk downstairs with Happy and Brian gets a box from the laundry room. "Put him in here," he says. He puts the box on the floor by the front door.

"He needs a blanket," I say.

Brian groans, but he goes into the laundry room and comes back with a towel that he puts in the box. "There! Happy?"

I lay Happy in the box and he curls up in a little ball. "Isn't he cute?" I ask.

"Yeah, real cute," Brian says, but I can tell he doesn't mean it. "Let's eat. We have to warm the spaghetti sauce back up and after dinner you guys are going to bed."

"What?!" Guthrie yells. "That's not fair!"

"You locked me out of the house!" Brian yells.

"Because you were gonna kill Happy!" I yell.

"Stop talking and come into the kitchen. You're staying up only until Adam calls because he wants to talk to you before you go to bed."

We follow him into the kitchen. Brian heats up the spaghetti sauce and when it's ready we all eat quietly.

* * *

After dinner Brian takes Happy out to the barn while Guthrie and I get ready for bed. I'm feeling much better about Happy now, knowing he's going to be helped. I'm glad he's going to a special animal hospital. When we're ready for bed, we go downstairs and sit on the couch. The front door is broken, but it doesn't look too bad. When Brian comes back in from the barn he tries to fix it.

Guthrie walks over to Brian and says, "I'm sorry for locking you out Brian."

"I guess I would've done the same thing when I was your age if Dad was gonna shoot one of my pets," he says.

"Does that mean you're not mad at us anymore?" I ask him.

He looks over at me and says, "no, I guess not."

"Yeah!" I yell as I run over to give him a hug. He picks me up and I look into his eyes and say, "thanks for not shooting Happy." Then I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him.

He sets me down and says, "let me finish fixing this door."

"Brian, what are we gonna do tonight?" Guthrie asks.

"Is Karen coming over?" I ask.

"No," Brian says.

"Why not?"

"She has other plans," Brian says.

"With another boy?" I ask and Guthrie laughs.

"I don't know," he says.

"Why don't you know? Isn't she your girlfriend?" I ask.

Brian puts the hammer down and looks at me and says, "no, she's not my girlfriend. Would you quit saying that?"

"You mean you can have sex with someone who's not your girlfriend?"

Guthrie laughs and Brian glares at him.

"Heidi, can we talk about something else now?" He asks.

The phone rings and I run to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hi," Adam says. "How was school today?"

"Fine. I didn't get in trouble, if that's what you mean."

"Good. Is the puppy ok?"

"Yes, he's back in the barn. Adam, can I stay home tomorrow so I can say goodbye to him?"

"No, you have to go to school. Go get Guthrie now. Goodnight, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Adam, I have some questions I want to ask you." I look over at Brian and Guthrie and they're busy fixing the door.

"Ok, what?" He asks.

"Well, I guess the first thing isn't a question, but did you know Brian's gonna have a baby?"

"What?!"

"Yeah, he had sex with Karen and she's pregnant."

"What?!" He yells again. "Let me talk to Brian!"

"But I have more questions. Can I ask them first?"

He's quiet for a minute and then he says, "ok. What?" He sounds mad.

"Brian said you can't get pregnant if you use a, and then he stopped talking. What was he gonna say?"

"What else did he say?"

"He said he was going to get lucky, and guess what?! Brian and Karen kissed with their shirts off and I saw her bra! It was white. Do you think they'll get married?"

"Heidi, give the phone to Brian." He sounds really mad now.

"But, you didn't answer my question. What was...,"

"Heidi! Put Brian on the phone! Now!"

"Brian, Adam wants to talk to you," I tell him and I hold out the phone for him.

He walks over and takes it from my hand. "yeah?" He says into the phone. He listens and then I see him start to look mad and he looks at me and yells, "she's not pregnant!" He's quiet again and then he says, "I'm not doing anything in...," he looks at me and then walks towards the kitchen with the phone and talks quieter. "No, I'm not," he says. "Adam, I swear I'm not doing that in front of her. She...," he's listening again. "She's...," it sounds like Adam's not letting him talk. Then Brian starts yelling, "she...," he pauses and then yells, "Adam! Let me talk! She's not seeing anything! I swear!" He listens again and then he says quietly, "ok. Don't worry, I'll make sure she's asleep." He glares at me while Adam's talking again and then he says, "don't worry, I won't say anything." He holds the phone out and says, "Guthrie, your turn."

Guthrie takes the phone and says hi to Adam while Brian walks over to me and takes my arm and leads me to the couch. We both sit down.

"What?" I ask.

"Karen is NOT pregnant. Do you understand me?" He looks mad.

"But you had sex. She has to be pregnant."

"You don't get pregnant every time you have sex!" He yells. He looks frustrated.

"Why?"

"It just doesn't work that way!"

"Yeah well, I don't believe you. It has to work that way. Your body doesn't just say, this time I'm gonna get pregnant, and this time I'm not." Brian leans all the way back on the couch and groans. He closes his eyes and rubs his fingers on his forehead. "Are you gonna marry her?" I ask. He's still leaning back with his eyes closed. I sit up on my knees and put my hands on his shoulders and shake him. "Brian? Are you listening to me?" He opens his eyes and looks at me.

"Heidi, if you stop talking about this stuff, I'll let you stay up a little bit past your bedtime."

Guthrie's off the phone now and asks, "can I stay up later too?"

Brian nods his head. "ONLY, if you guys stop talking about babies, sex and girlfriends! And Heidi, Karen is not pregnant!"

I say, "ok," but I still don't believe him. I don't understand how she _can't_ be pregnant.

"Can we have ice cream?" Guthrie asks.

"Yes."

Brian gets us ice cream while we pick out a game to play. We have fun playing Sorry and Brian lets us stay up a half hour past our bedtime. When he tucks me in he tells me a story about when he was younger. When he leaves he goes to say goodnight to Guthrie and the phone rings. He answers it and I get up out of bed and walk to my doorway to listen. I bet it's Adam again.

"Hi, let me call you back in a minute," he says quietly. He hangs up the phone and says goodnight to Guthrie and I run and jump back in bed. I wonder why he's talking so quietly to Adam. After Brian walks by my door on his way to the stairs, I get back up and sit by my doorway. I watch Brian walk over to the phone and dial.

He sits in the big comfy chair with the phone. I can't hear what he's saying, but he's smiling a lot. When he hangs up he gets up and starts cleaning up the living room. He's whistling. I wonder why he's cleaning up. After he's done he comes upstairs to the bathroom and after a minute I smell cologne. I bet Karen _is_ coming over. I can hear him singing quietly in the bathroom and he sounds happy. I bet he's gonna get lucky and that's why he's happy! I just thought of something! If you have sex twice is that where twins come from? When I see him come out of the bathroom he walks towards my room instead of downstairs. I run and jump in bed.

I pretend to be asleep and when I think he's gone I open my eyes. He shut my door so it's only open a crack! Why'd he do that! Karen is definitely coming over! I grab my pillow and blanket and go lay in front of my door so I can peek out the crack.

* * *

I feel like I've been waiting by my door forever, but finally I hear a soft knock at the front door. I sit up and open my door a little bit wider. Brian walks over to the door and opens it. He says hi and someone comes in. I can't see who it is yet because she turns around he takes her jacket off. He hangs it on a hook by the door and asks if she wants a beer. He tells her she can sit on the couch. I look closely and see that's not Karen! It's the girl with the dark hair Brian was talking to outside the grocery store earlier today!

What?! Who's this girl, and why isn't Karen here? She sits on the couch with the back of her head facing me. Brian comes in with two beers and hands one to her as he sits down next to her. They talk for a little bit while they drink their beers and then Brian puts his arm around her. She scoots closer to him and I just know they're gonna start kissing. Yep! Here they go.

They kiss forever! It's like they don't know how to stop kissing and their hands keep moving all over each others bodies. What are they doing? How come Adam and Hannah don't kiss like this on the couch? I start to think about Adam and Hannah while I watch Brian and this girl. That must be why Hannah's not pregnant! I guess they don't have sex like Brian does because I've never seen them do this.

The girl with the dark hair gets up and kneels on the couch with her legs on either side of Brian's so she's sitting on his lap facing him. I can see her face now but not for long because now Brian's kissing her again. Uh-oh, Brian's unbuttoning her blouse! I know what that means! Her shirt is going to be coming off! I close my eyes. I wait until I think he's done taking it off and then I open my eyes. Both of their shirts are off!

She's wearing a pretty dark pink bra. What's Brian doing to her back? He's kissing her and his hands are behind her back and it looks like he's trying to do something to her bra. Oh! It's coming off! I can't take it anymore! I jump up and open my door really fast and run into the hall.

"What about Karen and the baby?!" I yell downstairs to him.


	8. Chapter 8

The girl looks up at me and jumps up off Brian's lap. She looks around for her blouse and Brian looks up at me and yells, "get back in bed!"

"But what about Karen and the baby?" I ask again.

He glares at me and grits his teeth and says, "get back in bed!"

The girl is putting her blouse on and I walk into my room and stand just back from the doorway so I can't be seen. I hear Brian talking to the girl.

"She's ten. She doesn't know what she's talking about," he says.

"Who's Karen?" She asks. "What baby is she talking about? You never said you had a baby!" She sounds mad.

"I don't have a baby! I swear! And Karen's nobody. Just some girl I met in Angels Camp last weekend."

"You met me in Angels Camp!" She says. Now she sounds madder.

"Hey, Susan, look at me." I move forward a little bit so I can see them. Brian is holding the girl's face up to him. "That's just my crazy little sister. She thinks you can get pregnant if you even think about having sex."

No I don't! Susan looks like she might smile.

Brian smiles at her. "We're having fun here. Aren't we?"

She looks at him and smiles. "Yes." She has a pretty smile.

I move back into my room because Brian is looking up here and I hear him say, "just let me go talk to the kid first. I'll be right back."

I jump in bed and pull the covers up and pretend I'm sleeping. I can hear Brian walk in and then he sits down on my bed. "Open your eyes, I know you're awake!" He sounds mad but he's not yelling. Probably 'cause he doesn't want her to hear him yell. I open my eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?! You're supposed to be in bed!"

"I am in bed," I say quietly.

He glares at me. "You know what I mean. You need to stay in bed and give us some privacy!"

"But where's Karen? How come a different girl is here? Are you gonna have sex with her too?"

Brian talks in a real serious voice. "That is none of your business."

"But why are with a different girl tonight? Don't you like Karen anymore?"

"Heidi, I don't want to talk about this with you. You need to stay in bed and go to sleep now."

"How can I go to sleep when I know you're having sex downstairs?" I ask.

Brian glares at me and says, "you'd better go to sleep. Stay in bed or I'll close your door."

"How come you told Susan you didn't have a baby?"

"Because I don't!"

"Not yet, but you're going to. Maybe Karen...,"

"Karen is NOT pregnant!" He yells. I guess he doesn't care if Susan hears him now.

"I don't believe you. I know you...,"

"Stop talking!" He yells. "Go to sleep! I'm not talking about this with you anymore!" He gets up and walks to my door and turns around and says, "don't get out of bed and don't say a word, or your door will be closed!" Then he's gone.

I try to go to sleep, but it's hard to. I keep thinking about what they're doing down there. I don't hear anything, but that's probably because they're kissing. After a while I close my eyes and fall asleep.

* * *

When Brian wakes me up in the morning I ask him if Susan is still here.

"No. Get up and get ready for school."

"Did you guys..,"

"Don't talk! Just get up!" He leaves to go wake Guthrie up.

I get up and get ready for school, but my brain feels like it's going to explode with all the questions I want to ask.

* * *

At breakfast I try to talk about last night but Brian won't let me.

"A girl was here last night," I mouth to Guthrie.

"What?" He mouths back.

"A girl was here last night," I mouth again, only slower.

"Knock it off," Brian says.

"Why can't I tell Guthrie there was a girl here last night?" I ask.

"Karen?" Guthrie asks.

"No, a...,"

"Stop!" Brian yells. "I told you, no talking about last night!"

"What happened last night?" Guthrie asks.

"Nothing," Brian tells him. Then he points to me just as I'm about to say something and he says, "shut it!"

Guthrie and I look at each other and smile. "You can just tell me on the way to the bus stop," he says to me.

"Yep," I say back.

Brian groans.

"Just think Brian, tonight's the last night you can have a girl spend the night, then you...," I start to say, but he interrupts me.

"You're done eating," he says. "Go brush your teeth."

"After I'm done brushing them, can I go say goodbye to Happy?"

"If you do it quick," he says.

"Ok!" I jump up and tell Guthrie, "I'll meet you outside." Then I run upstairs to brush my teeth.

* * *

Guthrie comes into the barn and walks up to me and Happy. "Brian said it's time to go."

I pet Happy again and he wags his tail. "Bye. Be good at the hospital."

Guthrie pets him and then I get up and take my lunch from him.

"So tell me about last night," he says as we walk out of the barn.

"Brian had a girl over! It wasn't Karen, it was that girl with the dark hair we saw in town yesterday. Remember the one Brian went to talk to?"

"Yeah."

"Her name's Susan. Her and Brian kissed on the couch and then they took their shirts off. Her bra was dark pink."

Guthrie laughs. "Oh my gosh Heidi, you're so funny. Then what did they do?"

"Brian was trying to take her bra off!"

"Was she naked!" Guthrie asks. He sounds surprised.

"She would've been except I stopped them. Guthrie, why was Brian with a different girl last night? Aren't you just supposed to be with one girl at a time?"

"I don't know. Ford only likes Cleo, but Evan and Daniel date lots of different girls," he says.

"Do Evan and Daniel have sex too?"

Guthrie laughs. "I have no idea! You should ask them when we get to Reno."

I think I will. Hopefully I'll remember. "Guthrie, don't you have to be an adult to have sex?"

"No. Kids in high school have sex."

"At school?" I ask.

He laughs again. "I don't know, probably not."

We're waiting at the bus stop now and the bus is almost here. I still have so many questions to ask. I guess I'll have to wait until after school.

* * *

We still have Mrs. Smith for our substitute teacher. I miss my regular teacher. I also miss Denise. She's been sick for a long time now. School has just started and we're listening to Mrs. Smith give directions for our reading time. It's hard for me to pay attention because my mind keeps thinking about Brian and sex.

I wonder if Susan is his girlfriend. Is Susan pregnant too! Brian could have two babies! I wonder if he was telling the truth when he said Karen wasn't pregnant. My mind keeps thinking about all this stuff and then I hear Mrs. Smith say, "are there any questions?" I raise my hand and she calls on me.

"Do girls get pregnant when they have sex?" I ask. All the kids laugh and I look around and realize I asked that question out loud. Mrs. Smith doesn't look happy.

"That's enough class! Be quiet!" The class slowly quiets down and everyone looks at me as Mrs. Smith writes my name on the board. "Heidi, I don't know if that was your idea of a joke, but I...,"

I interrupt her. "No it wasn't a joke. I'm sorry, but I was just curious. Do they?" Everyone laughs again.

"Quiet!" She yells. "Heidi, would you like to go ask the principal that question?"

"No way!" I yell.

"Then be quiet and do your work."

I do not want to ask Mr. Brick that question! I think about that for a minute. I wonder if he would answer it? Jeremy, the boy who sits next to me, says, "Heidi, that's how girls get pregnant. Don't you know that?!" He whispers and then laughs.

"Of course I know that! What I want to know is, do they get pregnant _every_ time they have sex."

Jeremy laughs. "Of course they do!"

"That's what I thought! But Brian said no!" I yell out loud.

Mrs. Smith gets up and puts a check mark after my name. Darn! That means no recess after reading time is over. David, who sits behind Jeremy, says, "your brother's lying."

"No he's not! You take that back!" I'm mad now! I don't like when people say mean things about my brothers.

David laughs so I look up at Mrs. Smith and see she's helping someone. I get up and move closer to him. He looks a little scared now. "Take that back," I say again.

"Ok, but he really is lying."

That's it! I make my right hand into a fist and punch him right in the nose. He yells ow and covers his nose with his hand, but you can still see the blood dripping down. He stands up and gets ready to punch me back but Mrs. Smith yells, "stop!"

We both turn around and look at her. "She punched me!" David says.

"He was gonna punch me!" I yell.

"David, get some tissue for your nose and both of you go to the office. Now!" Mrs. Smith says. Then she looks at me and says, "I am calling the office right now, so don't get lost on your way there."

I walk to the door of the classroom and watch Mrs. Smith pick up the phone. Guess I'd better go straight to the office and not stop for a drink on my way there. David is following right behind me. I'm so mad I punched him. Why'd he have to say Brian was lying? I hope Brian's not inside the house when Mr. Brick calls. He's gonna be mad if he has to come pick me up.

When we walk in the office the secretary smiles at us and nods with her head for us to sit on the bench. I sit at one end and David sits at the other end. I look into Mr. Brick's office and see him talking on the phone. Maybe it'll be a long phone call and he won't come out here for a while. I fold my arms across my chest and glare. Why did I have to ask that stupid question? Why did Brian have to bring girls home so I would think about this kind of stuff? I hope Brian does have to come pick me up, because now I'm mad at him!

Mr. Brick opens his door and calls David into his office. David's nose isn't bleeding anymore. He glares at me as he walks by. When he's in the office Mr. Brick closes the door. Stupid Brian! Adam always says I'm just like Brian. He says when we get mad we explode. Adam says I'm just like a firecracker. We'll I feel like exploding right now! When I see Brian I'm gonna punch 'him' right in the nose.

When David comes out he glares at me as he walks by and leaves the office. I look into Mr. Brick's office and watch him call someone on the phone. He's probably calling David's home. When he's done Mr. Brick calls me into his office. I get up and glare at Mr. Brick all the way into his office and then I shut the door and sit in the chair in front of his desk.

"I called your brother and he's coming to pick you up."

I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him. He didn't even hear my side. Not that it matters. I get up to leave.

"Sit down," Mr. Brick says. "Why did you punch David?"

I sit back down and say, "because he called my brother a liar."

Mr. Brick leans back in his chair and stares at me. "What were you two talking about?" He asks.

I stare at him. I am definitely not going to answer that. I keep on glaring at him.

"I asked you a question," he says.

"I know."

He stares at me waiting for me to answer, but I'm not going to.

"What we're you talking about?" He asks again, except this time his voice sounds mad.

"You can keep asking me, but I'm not gonna tell you," I say. I keep glaring at him with my arms folded across my chest.

"Fine. We'll just wait until Brian gets here. Go wait out on the bench." His voice is mad now.

I get up and open his door and walk back out to the bench. I'm still mad at Brian so I fold my arms across my chest and glare at the door of the office.

* * *

I've probably been sitting on the bench for about fifteen minutes when the door to the office opens and Brian walks in. He takes his hat off and smiles at the secretary. She tells him to sit on the bench next to me. I still have my arms folded across my chest and I look up at Brian and glare at him. He looks down at me and starts to glare at me as he sits down, but when he looks at me he says, "what? Why do you look like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're mad at me."

"I am mad at you," I tell him.

"Why? I'm the one that should be mad! I had to stop working and come pick you up!"

"I guess you shouldn't have picked up the phone!" I tell him.

"What?!"

That's all we get to say to each other because Mr. Brick comes out and tells us to come into his office. He sets another chair in front of his desk so both me and Brian sit down.

I fold my arms across my chest and glare at the phone on Mr. Brick's desk. He starts to tell Brian about the fight and I start thinking about something else. It wasn't even a fight! It was just a punch! I start to think about David calling Brian a liar. What did he mean by that?

"Heidi!" Brian yells and I jump.

I look at Brian and then Mr. Brick. "What?"

"Mr. Brick asked what you and that boy were talking about," Brian says.

I stare at Mr. Brick and keep my mouth shut.

"This is what I was talking about," Mr. Brick tells Brian. "I've been asking her that and she won't answer."

"Heidi, answer the principal," Brian says in his serious voice.

I glare up at him and say, "no."

"What?!" Brian yells. "What were you talking about?"

"Why does it mater? I'm in trouble for hitting David, not talking to him."

"Tell us now!" Brian yells at me.

I glare at him. "Ok. We were talking about how you were a big fat liar!" I yell.

"You already told me that part," Mr. Brick says, then he looks at Brian. "This is all I've been able to get out of her."

"Why do you need to know the rest?" I ask.

"Just tell us Heidi!" Brian says.

"Ok. I was talking about how girls get pregnant! Are you happy now?!"

Brian groans and Mr. Brick leans back in his chair and says to Brian, "I'll let you take care of this at home."

Brian gets up and I do to. I walk out of Mr. Brick's office and then out the door of the main office. I walk out to the parking lot where I see the jeep and then I run to it. I can hear Brian yelling, "wait up!"

I open the passenger side door of the jeep, get in and slam the door shut. Brian gets in and starts yelling at me right away. "What's the matter with you?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I yell back.

"Look at me!" He yells.

I look at him and yell, "what?!"

He glares at me and I glare right back. "Don't yell at me like that!" He yells.

"Why not?! You're yelling at me!"

"I'm an adult!"

I glare at him and think about punching him. I don't know why I feel so mad at him but I do.

"I know that look," he says in his mad voice, "if you punch me I'll...,"

"You'll what?! Call Adam and tell on me?! Big deal! He's not here!"

Brian glares at me and starts the jeep. I don't think I've ever seen him this mad before. I can hear him talking quietly to himself I guess. I hear something like, "I'll tell on you alright." Then he says a bunch of other stuff I can't hear. We drive to the General Store and Brian parks the jeep on the street.

"Stay here," he says. He opens his door and looks back at me and says, "look at me." I glare at him. "Don't get out. I'll be back in a minute, I have to get one thing." He gets out and slams his door shut.

I sigh. How did this day get so bad? I wish I hadn't punched David. I really wish I hadn't asked that question in class. I look across the street at Marie's restaurant. There are a few people standing outside the door talking. I look closely and see a girl with blonde hair. It looks like Karen. I look closer and I can tell it is Karen. She's talking with two other girls her age.

I bet she would tell me if she was pregnant! I better go ask her before Brian gets back! I can also ask her where she was last night! I open my door and get out of the jeep.


	9. Chapter 9

I run across the street and walk up to Karen. She's talking with some friends so I walk up to all of them and stand with them. They stop talking and look down at me.

"Hi," I say to Karen. "Do you remember me?"

"Of course I do," she smiles at me. "You're Brian's little sister."

"Right. Where were you last night?" I ask her.

She looks a little confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean how come you weren't at our house last night spending the night?" Her friends laugh and Karen laughs a little bit too.

"I was out with my friends last night. We went into Sonora to see a movie. Why? Did Brian miss me?" She smiles at me.

"I don't think so. He had another girl come over." Karen's smile fades. I keep talking, "her name was Susan and Brian took her shirt off too, just like he did with you." None of her friends are laughing anymore. Karen looks kind of mad. "I think she spent the night too. Karen, are you pregnant?" Her friends gasp and Karen glares at me.

"No, I am NOT pregnant!"

"But I thought you and Brian had sex. Isn't that how you get pregnant?" Her friends laugh a little.

"Yes, that's how you get pregnant, but you can't get pregnant if you use protection. We used protection, so I'm not pregnant," she says.

"What's protection?" I ask. I'm really confused now.

Karen looks across the street and then back down at me and she smiles. "You should ask Brian what protection is. I'm sure he would love to tell you what it is." She looks across the street again and says, "oh look! Here he comes now!" I turn around and look and see Brian getting ready to cross the street. Uh-oh. He's looking at me and he looks mad. I was supposed to stay in the jeep.

"Come on girls," Karen says to her friends, and they start walking down the street. Karen doesn't even say hi to Brian. She doesn't even look at him.

When Brian gets to me he grabs me under my armpit and leads me across the street to the jeep. "I thought I told you to stay in the jeep!" He yells.

"But I saw Karen and I wanted to go talk to her," I tell him.

"I don't care what you wanted to do! I told you to stay in the jeep!" He walks me around the jeep and opens the passenger side door and pushes me in the front seat.

"Ow! You're hurting me!" He's not really.

"No I'm not!" He yells as he slams my door shut. He gets in on his side and starts the jeep. "What were you talking to Karen about?" He asks as he starts driving home.

"I wanted to know if she was pregnant."

"Heidi! Stop doing that! Just because we had sex doesn't mean she's pregnant!"

I look over at Brian and smile. "So, you _did_ have sex!"

He looks over at me and glares.

"She said she wasn't pregnant because you guys used protection. What's protection?" I think that made him even madder because he starts yelling really loud now.

"She said what?!"

I smile. "She said you used _protection_. What does that mean?" He doesn't say anything. "Oh, and I think she was mad when I told her you had another girl over last night."

Brian pulls the jeep over to the side of the road and stares straight ahead. He looks mad.

"I also told her you took the other girl's shirt off too, and that she spent the night."

"What?!" Brian gets out of the jeep and walks in front of it. He's saying stuff that I can't hear and he's kicking at the dirt with his boots. He looks at me and then he looks away and starts saying other stuff that I can't hear. He's mad about something. He looks kind of how Adam looks when he's frustrated with something.

I open my door and yell out, "what's wrong Brian?"

He looks over at me and yells, "get back in!" Then he walks over to the driver's side and gets back in the jeep.

"What's wrong?" I ask again.

"Don't talk!" He yells.

"Why not?!"

"Just don't talk!"

"But I want to know why you don't want me to talk!"

"Because if you do I'm gonna...," he stops talking.

"You're gonna what?" I look at him and he's staring straight ahead while he's driving. "You were gonna say you were gonna kill me, weren't you? Brian, you kind of look like Adam does when he's mad about something."

"I wish Adam was here right now," he says.

"Why? What are you so mad about?"

He keeps staring straight ahead and says in a very serious voice, "if I were you, I would shut up now and not say another word."

I think I'll stop talking now. When Brian gets mad he gets _mad_. I stare straight ahead too for the rest of the ride home.

* * *

When we get home there are two trucks parked near our house.

"Who's here?" I ask Brian as we pull up and park.

"The Millers and two other ranchers."

"Why are they here today? We're not leaving until tomorrow."

"They're here to see what needs to get done this weekend while we're away. They're also helping out today because I've been getting behind in my work since I have to keep going to your school to pick you up," he tells me. "They've been here since this morning, after you guys left for school." We're inside the house now.

"Is Happy still here?" I ask excitedly. I hope he is because then I can go play with him.

"No, he's gone."

I feel a little sad. "What do you want to do today? I don't have any schoolwork to do. Do you want to play a game?"

Brian looks at me and smiles. "Play a game?" I nod my head. "You're gonna play a game alright. It's called 'mucking out the barn'."

"What?! By myself?" This isn't fair! "Adam doesn't make me do chore work when I get sent home from school!"

"Adam's not here. You're gonna help Laura muck out the stalls in the barn."

I glare at him and put my hands on my hips. "Who's Laura?"

"One of the ranchers that's helping out. She's a friend of the Millers," he says.

"A girl rancher?" I ask. I guess I've seen girl ranchers before. "How come I've never heard of her before?"

"She's just visiting for a while."

"Visiting who?"

Brian laughs. "What's with all the questions? Why don't you ask her yourself, you're gonna be working with her all day today. Come on, I'll introduce you to her."

We walk out of the house and over to the barn.

* * *

I should've known Laura would be young and pretty. I can see her just outside the barn door with a shovel in her hand. She sees us walking over and waves. She looks like she's Brian's age and she has blonde hair and a very pretty smile. When we get to her she looks at me and smiles.

"Hi," I say.

"Hi, I'm Laura."

"I'm Heidi."

Brian says, "Laura, Heidi's gonna help you in the barn." He sounds like he's smiling when he says that so I look up at him and see he is smiling. Right at Laura. His eyes look like they're smiling too. Oh no! I look at Laura and she's smiling right back at him. It's more than just a smile. It looks like they're talking to each other with their eyes.

"Oh brother!" I say. "Don't tell me you like her too, Brian!" Now they're not looking at each other anymore, they're looking at me.

"Heidi, can I talk to you for a second?" Brian says. He's smiling but his voice doesn't sound happy. He puts his hand under my armpit and leads me around the side of the barn.

"Ouch! What are you doing?"

He stops walking and crouches down in front of me. "I like this girl, Heidi." I groan. "Do me a favor, don't tell Laura about Karen, or Susan. Ok?"

"Why?" I look at him kind of funny.

He talks in a serious voice. "Because she likes me too and if she knew about the other girls, she might not like me."

I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him. "You want me to lie to her?"

"No, I just don't want you talk about them. At all."

"Why shouldn't I tell her?"

Brian thinks for a minute and then says, "if you don't tell her _anything_ about Karen or Susan, I won't tell Adam you got sent home from school today for fighting." He raises his eyebrows. "Ok?"

I smile really big. "Sure! I won't tell her anything about them at all!"

"Not about taking their shirts off, or spending the night, or sex, or being pregnant. Ok?"

"You got a deal!" We shake hands.

"Ok, let's go find out how she wants you to help her," Brian says and we walk back into the barn.

Laura is shoveling out Diablo's stall. She stops working when she sees us coming over. She's smiling really big again.

"How do you want me to help?" I ask her.

"Grab a shovel and help me fill this wheelbarrow." I leave to get a shovel and Brian and Laura talk to each other. I stare at them for a while so they can talk. I can't hear what they're saying but they're laughing a lot. After I think I've given them enough time, I walk back over.

"I'd better get back to work," Brian tells her. "Do you want to have some lunch with us in the house in about an hour?"

"Sure," she says.

Brian tips his cowboy hat at her and whistles a song as he walks out of the barn. Laura looks at me and smiles.

"Your brother sure is nice," she says.

"Yeah. He's really nice. I think he likes you," I tell her.

Her smile gets bigger when I say that and her cheeks turn pink. "Oh, I'm sure he's got lots of girls he goes out with all the time. I don't think he'd be interested in me. I don't live here, I'm just passing through."

"Oh, those are the girls he likes the best!"

Her smile fades a little bit and she says, "what?"

Hmm. I'm pretty sure I said something wrong. I'd better fix it. "Brian doesn't have a girlfriend. He doesn't like any of the girls that live here in Murphys. He's been out with all of them."

Her smile fades a little bit more. Whatever I'm saying, she doesn't like. "Brian doesn't bring girls home to spend the night with him." I look at her face closely. Her smile is coming back. Good, she likes that. "He never brings them home, he doesn't have sex with them either or get girls pregnant because he uses protection." Now I can't tell if she liked what I said or not because she looks confused.

"We'd better get to work. Lunch will be here before we know it and I want to get at least two of these stalls cleaned out before then."

We get to work and she tells me all about where she's from and why she's out here in California. I tell her about my family and before we know it, it's time for lunch. I walk with her to her truck so she can get her lunch and then I bring her inside to the house.

* * *

"Do you have a boyfriend?" I ask Laura as she takes her sandwich out of her lunch bag. We're waiting for Brian to come in and eat lunch with us, but we're both really hungry so we start without him.

"No. I had a boyfriend back in Colorado, but we broke up before I came out here." She takes a bite of her sandwich.

"Did you have sex with him?" I ask. She almost chokes on her sandwich.

"Heidi," Brian says while walking into the kitchen, "don't ask questions like that." He smiles at me with a 'I can't believe you just said that look'. "Sorry," he says to Laura.

"It's ok," she says. "Heidi's a really nice kid. She helped a lot today in the barn. She's a good little rancher." She smiles at me when she says that. I smile back at her. I think I like her.

"Good. I'm glad she's helping. Let me know if she doesn't."

The telephone rings and I jump up and yell, "I got it!" I run to the phone in the living room. I'm just about to pick it up when Brian yells.

"No, don't pick it up! You're supposed to be at school, remember?"

I almost picked up the phone. Brian comes to answer it and says, "I don't know if that's Adam or not." He answers the phone and I can tell by the way he's talking that it's not Adam.

I sit back down at the table and ask Laura if she likes Brian. "He's on the phone now, so you can tell me," I say smiling at her.

She smiles and says, "I think I might."

"Well, you know what Brian should do?"

"What?" She asks.

"Brian should take you out to dinner tonight."

She laughs. "Are you trying to set us up on a date?"

"Sure. Guthrie and I can come too!" I yell excitedly.

"Come where?" Brian asks as he comes in and sits down at the table.

"Heidi was just saying you should take us all out to dinner tonight," Laura says.

Brian smiles at Laura and asks, "well, would you like to go out to dinner?"

Laura smiles back and says, "I would love too."

"Yeah!" I yell. "Where are you gonna take us?"

Laura laughs and Brian says, "who said you were going?"

"What?! You can't leave me home alone!" I glare at him. "You're just teasing me aren't you?"

He looks at me seriously and says, "maybe you and Guthrie can stay home by yourselves tonight."

"I don't think Adam would like that. I wouldn't like it either. I'd be scared," I tell him. "Your not being serious are you?"

He smiles at me, "maybe. I'll have to think about that one." Now I'm sure he's teasing.

"Would you like me to pick you up at six?" Brian asks Laura. "Or would you rather meet us there?"

"Meet us where?" I ask. "Where are we going?"

"Well, there's not much of choice. Sorry Laura, but with the two kids I don't think eating out at a fancy hotel would be a good idea," he says. "It'll have to be Marie's."

"Marie's is fine," she says. "I'm not much of a fancy restaurant type of person. Give me a burger and some fries and I'm happy."

"Hey, that's the same as Brian!" I yell. "He doesn't like fancy restaurants either. He likes eating at Marie's and having a bunch of beers, or hanging out at the bar drinking a lot of beer."

Laura laughs. "Drinking beer sounds good to me too."

"We have some in the fridge if you want me to get you some," I tell her as I stand up.

"No thank you Heidi. I don't like to drink while I'm working."

"Neither do my brothers. They save it for after they're done working. Then Brian drinks a lot of it."

Brian glares at me and Laura laughs. "We should get back to work," Laura says. "I think I'd like you to pick me up, if you don't mind." She smiles at Brian when she says that.

"Yeah!" I yell. "Bring your pajamas and your toothbrush and you can sleepover too! That would be fun! You can sleep with Brian, if you want." I smile at her and raise my eyebrows.

"Heidi!" Brian yells, but not loud like he usually does when he yells.

"What?"

Laura laughs and says, "I think I'll get back to work. Heidi, why don't you meet me out at the barn when you're done talking to Brian. It looks like he might want to talk to you." She smiles at Brian when she says that.

After she leaves and we hear the front door close, I yell, "she's perfect for you! I really like her a lot too!"

"Would you stop! Heidi, you don't ask women to sleep over like that."

"But don't you like her?"

"Sure, but we're getting to know each other."

"So, talk to her at Marie's and then bring her home! You got to know those other girls like that. Besides, I like her the best out of all the girls you brought home. She's nice to me and you seem to like her better than the other girls too." I stop talking and think for a minute. "If you bring her home I'll let you have privacy. I won't watch you kiss her or take her shirt off at all!"

Brian groans and gets up from the table. "I don't want to hear you talk about that stuff anymore. Got it?"

"Then who's gonna answer all my questions?" I ask him.

"Not me! I think you should save all your questions for Adam. I know he'd love to talk to you about all that kind of stuff." He laughs a little to himself after he says that. "Go out to the barn and get back to work."

I get up and clean up my mess and run to the front door. I can't wait to go out to the barn and talk to Laura some more.

* * *

I spend the rest of the afternoon helping Laura work around the ranch. She really likes my horse, Lucy. She has her own horse too, but she's back in Colorado. When Guthrie comes home from school, I introduce him to Laura and then me and Guthrie do our chores. I tell Guthrie all about Laura and how she's perfect for Brian. When I tell him we're going to Marie's for dinner he's happy. We don't get to eat out a whole lot, so two nights in one week is special.

When Laura's done working she says goodbye to us. "I've got to go home and get ready for my date tonight," she says while smiling.

"Are you gonna wear a dress?" I ask her.

"No, I'm more of a jeans girl."

"Me too! I have two dresses Hannah made for me and they're ok. I like wearing jeans a whole lot better than dresses! Are you gonna put makeup on?"

"Heidi, quit asking her all these questions. Just let her go home and get ready," Guthrie says.

"Come on Heidi," Laura says. "Walk with me to my truck." I walk with her and she tells me she's going to wear a little bit of makeup and she's going to fix her hair. "After I take a shower of course."

I'm starting to feel a little sad because I miss Hannah. Laura makes me miss her because she reminds me of her. I think Hannah would like Laura. I don't think Hannah would like the other two girls Brian brought home. She'd be nice to them, but Laura is someone she could talk to.

"What's wrong?" Laura says. We're at her truck now.

"I miss Hannah. You remind me of her and she's been gone for a long time now."

"I'm sorry. I bet you can't wait to see her tomorrow."

I nod my head.

"Bye Heidi. I'll see you tonight."

"Bye." I watch her get in her truck and I wave to her as she drives off. I'm still feeling sad so I walk over to the house and sit on the porch steps. When Brian walks over he sits next to me.

"What's wrong twerp? You look sad." He says.

"I miss everyone."

He puts his arm around me and hugs me close to him. "You'll get to see them tomorrow. Cheer up, we're gonna have fun tonight! It's our last night together with the just the three of us."

"I'm glad we're spending it with Laura." I look up at Brian. "She really likes you. She's at home now taking a shower and fixing her hair and putting makeup on."

He smiles down at me. "I like her too. I'm gonna go take a shower too. If she's gonna smell nice, I'd better too!" I laugh and he runs up the steps and I follow him inside and then I get the perfect idea! I'm gonna get ready too, just like Laura and Hannah would.

* * *

I know I'm not supposed to be in Adam and Hannah's bedroom after using the nail polish to paint Brian's nails, but I have to see if she has any makeup. Brian's in the bathroom so this is the perfect time to sneak in.

I open their door and turn on the light and close the door behind me. Hannah keeps all her nail polish and perfume and hair stuff on top of her dresser. There's an old wooden chair in their room that I drag over to her dresser and get up on top of. Now I can see everything.

I'm not good at painting my nails so I won't do that. I look for her makeup bag but I can't find it. Usually it's right up here next to her perfume. I guess she took it with her. I open her top dresser drawer and find some lipstick and powder stuff she puts on her cheeks. I'll put that on. I grab the powder and jump down. I look in front of the big mirror in their bedroom. It's one of those mirrors you can see your whole body in. I stand in front of it and open the powder. It's pink and I pick up the little brush and put some powder on it. I brush it on my cheek and since it doesn't look like I have any on, I put on some more. I put some on the other cheek. When I stand back and look at my face it looks different. Something looks wrong with the powder. It doesn't look like this on Hannah's cheeks. Maybe it'll look better if put lipstick on with it.

I walk back over to her dresser and get back on top of the chair. The only lipstick I see is pink so I grab that and jump down and look in front of the mirror. I've watched Hannah put lipstick on before and I've even let her put some on me before, so this should be easy. I take the top off and twist the lipstick all the way up. Wow, this looks like a new lipstick because it's sticking up about two inches tall. I hold it to my lip and press really hard like I'm drawing with a crayon. I almost have it on both lips when I feel it break. I must have been pressing too hard. The stick breaks off and falls on the floor.

I pick it up and stick it back in the tube and put the top on. I look in the mirror. I look different. The makeup looks a little funny on me. I guess I don't know how to put it on right. I sigh and go back over to the dresser. Once I'm on top of the chair again I put the lipstick back and open Hannah's jewelry box. I'm not gonna wear anything from it, I just like to look at it. She has a lot of pretty jewelry. I have one real piece of jewelry. It's my mom's wedding ring. Adam is saving it for me for when I'm older. He's shown it to me before and let me try it on. It's gold with one small diamond right in the middle. It's really pretty and Adam keeps it locked up somewhere with other special stuff from my mom that he's saving for me. I close Hannah's jewelry box and look at her perfume.

She has so many different bottles. I count ten and they're all in pretty glass bottles. Which one should I wear? I'll have to test them all. Some are spray bottles but four of them aren't. You have to dab it on I guess. I open all the perfume bottles and line them up in front of me to test them. The spray ones I squirt two times in the air. They all smell too flowery. That leaves the four non spray bottles.

I'm not sure how to test these. I guess I'll just pour a drop out onto the dresser and then wipe it up. I pick up the first bottle and pour a drop out but not just one drop comes out! It starts to spill and I don't know how to stop it so I quickly put it upright, but I do it too fast and it slips out of my hand and falls to the floor. I try to catch it before it falls off the dresser and I knock over more bottles of perfume! Please don't fall on the wood part of the floor and break! One bottle does and the other two fall on the rug and don't break, but they're spilling onto the rug! The door opens and I turn around and look at Brian.

"What are you doing?!"

I just stare at him while he walks in and looks at the mess on the floor. He starts picking the bottles up off the rug and sets them on the dresser. He looks at the broken bottle laying on the floor.

"Dang it Heidi! What are you doing in here?!"

I don't think he wants me to answer because he's not looking at me, he's cleaning stuff up.

"It smells so bad in here! It's never gonna come out of the rug! Heidi! I can't believe you did this!"

Guthrie comes in and says, "oh my God!" He laughs and then stops and plugs his nose. "It stinks in here!"

"Get out!" Brian yells to Guthrie, and then he looks at me and says, "don't move! I'll be right back!"

I start to cry. I guess I can put the tops back on the bottles. I do that and Brian comes back in with some old towels and starts cleaning up.

"I'm sorry Brian."

"Just stay on that chair so you're out of the way! What were you trying to do?!"

"See which one smelled the best," I say quietly.

"How? By pouring them out on the floor?!"

"No. I was just trying to pour one drop out."

"Why didn't you just open the bottle and smell it?" He asks while he's picking up the broken bottle. "Why'd you have to pour it out?"

That would've been a better idea. I wish I would've thought of that instead. He finishes cleaning everything up and then he looks at me. I'm still standing on the chair so I only have to look up at him a little way.

"What are you doing in here?" He looks at me carefully and then puts his hand under my chin and holds it up and says, "what's all that stuff on your face?" He looks at it carefully and then sighs. "Stay here, I'll be right back." He leaves and I try to straighten up Hannah's dresser. When he comes back he has a wet washcloth.

"Lift your face up." He puts one hand behind my head to hold it still, and with the other hand he washes my face off with the washcloth. I try to move my face out of the way, but I can't because he's stronger. When he's finished he keeps his hand at the back of my head and says, "look at me." I look up and he says, "don't play with Hannah's stuff! Don't come in here anymore either! You're gonna have to tell Hannah what you did."

"Now?" I start to cry. "I can't! Adam told me to stay out of their room."

"You can wait until we all come home from Reno. They're not gonna be happy, this room's gonna smell bad for a long time." He wipes the tears off my cheeks and says, "go finish getting ready, we're leaving in ten minutes."

I jump down and run to my room. Guthrie's out in the hallway and says, "what were you doing in there?

"Nothing! Just leave me alone!"

"Guthrie, leave her alone!" Brian says. "Let's go guys. Get your jackets on."

We run downstairs and put our jackets on and wait at the front door for Brian.

* * *

Laura is ready to go when Brian picks her up from the Millers' ranch. She's seems really happy and she talks to all of us, not just Brian. We drive into town and park across the street from Marie's. It's cold and dark outside, but Marie's is warm inside and crowded. I look around to see if there are any kids I know from school and I don't see any. We know pretty much everyone in here though.

There are no tables so we have to wait for one. Guthrie and I go sit on the stools up at the counter to wait while Laura and Brian stand close to each other by the door and talk. Marie brings us some Cokes and we sip them while we spin around on the stools. We're laughing and having a good time until I look over at a table in the middle of the restaurant. Sitting at the table is Karen with her two friends I saw earlier today. She looks mad. She's looking over by the door and I look to see what she's looking at and it's Brian and Laura kissing! He's kissing her already?!

I watch Karen closely as she talks to her friends and now they're all three looking at Laura and Brian kissing and they all look mad. Karen stands up and starts walking towards the door. Uh-oh. I don't think Brian even knows she's here. I'd better go stop her or at least warn Brian. I jump down off the stool.


	10. Chapter 10

I run up to Brian and pull on his shirt. "Brian!" I say quietly while he's kissing Laura. "Brian!" He looks down at me.

"What do you want twerp? Can't you see I'm busy?" He smiles at Laura. I motion for him to lean down so I can whisper something in his ear. "What?" He whispers to me.

"Karen is here, and she's coming towards you!" I whisper loudly.

Brian looks up and sees Karen walking over to him. I watch him closely to see what he's gonna do. He doesn't get much time to think, because she's standing right with us and she doesn't look happy.

"Hi Karen," Brian says. He looks like he's smiling but I can tell he's really nervous. "This is Laura. Laura, this is Karen." Laura smiles and says hi to Karen, but Karen doesn't even look at her. She keeps staring at Brian and she's glaring at him. But then she looks down at me and says, "did you get a chance to talk to Brian about that 'thing' we talked about earlier today?"

I think for a minute, and then I remember. "Oh yeah! You told me to ask Brian about pro..,"

Brian laughs and pulls me so I'm standing in front of him and he covers my mouth with his hand. "Heidi, I think there's a table ready for us. Why don't you and Laura go sit down and I'll be there in a minute."

He uncovers my mouth and I take Laura's hand and pull her towards the empty table in the middle of the restaurant.

"Bye Karen," Laura says. "It was nice meeting you."

I pull on her faster so she laughs and says, "Heidi, I'm coming! What's the rush?"

When we get to the table I have her sit in the chair that has it's back facing the front door where Brian is talking to Karen. I sit in the chair across from her so I can look at Laura, _and_ see what's going on with Brian and Karen over by the door. Guthrie runs up and sits next to Laura.

"Where's Brian?" He asks. I nod towards the door, and when he turns around to look he quickly turns back around and looks at me with his eyes wide. I nod my head.

"Ok guys, what's going on over there by the door? Is that a girlfriend of Brian's?" Laura asks. She doesn't look mad or upset. "It's ok. I just met Brian today and we don't know a whole lot about each other yet."

"She's not his girlfriend," I tell her. "She's just someone who...,"

Guthrie kicks me hard under the table and says, "she just someone who knows Brian really well. I think they _used_ to be boyfriend and girlfriend." Guthrie smiles at Laura.

"Yeah, I don't think they're gonna be boyfriend and girlfriend anymore now," I tell her. I look over at Brian, and Karen is talking to him. I don't think he's listening to her though because he's just kind of staring into space. She must be really mad because all of a sudden she slaps his face!

Brian looks at Karen and rubs his cheek with his hand. He doesn't look mad, he just kind of stares at her and then nods his head. She must've said goodbye because she leaves and then Brian laughs and keeps rubbing his cheek. A guy Brian knows comes up to him and they start laughing about something. Then Brian looks over at us and walks over.

"Why'd she slap you Brian?!" I ask when he gets near. Guthrie kicks me under the table. "Ow! Why'd you kick me?!" Guthrie looks at me and moves his eyes to Laura and then back at me. "Oh," I say.

Brian makes me switch spots with him so he can sit across from Laura. "I guess she was mad about something," Brian says.

"Was she mad 'cause of Susan?" I ask.

"Who's Susan?" Laura asks. She's smiling when she asks that, kind of like she's teasing.

"Just some other girl that's _not_ Brian's girlfriend, either," I tell her.

"Uh Heidi?" Brian says and I look at him. "Do you remember the deal we made earlier today?" He's looking at me with a little bit of a glare in his eyes so I think.

"Oh yeah," I say. Then I look at Laura and say, "Brian's not gonna tell on me to Adam, if I don't talk to _you_ about girls that _aren't_ his girlfriend. The girls he just likes to get lucky with them."

Laura laughs, Guthrie groans and I look at Brian and he's glaring at me. Laura looks at Brian and says, "don't worry, we just met each other today. We're just having fun."

I laugh. "That's what Brian told one of those girls the other night!" Both Guthrie and Brian kick me under the table.

"Why don't we talk about something else?" Laura says. "Tell me why you're all going to Reno."

We all tell her about the rodeo in Reno, and she tells us about rodeos she's been to. Marie comes over to take our order and Brian tells her we all want burgers and fries. Eating dinner with Laura is a lot funner than it was when we ate with Karen. Laura talks to me and Guthrie so all four of us are having fun together. But, Guthrie and I finish eating before Brian and Laura so we start to get a little bored.

We look around Marie's and Guthrie sees his friend Kenny sitting at a table near us with his family. Guthrie waves at him and Kenny comes over to our table.

"Hi Guthrie. Do you want to come outside with me? My parents are talking to my sisters about their boyfriends and I'm getting bored."

"Can I?" Guthrie asks Brian.

"Can I go too?" I ask. "Then you and Laura could talk privately." I smile really big at him.

"Sure, just don't go too far, and stay out of trouble," he says.

"Trouble?" Guthrie says. "We never get into any trouble!" That makes me and Brian laugh.

Laura says, "I take it you guys get into trouble a lot?"

"Never," I say while shaking my head and smiling. Guthrie, Kenny and I run to the front door of Marie's and go outside.

* * *

"What do you guys want to do?" Guthrie asks. It's dark outside except for a few street lights, and lights from the few places that are still open. Mainly Marie's, and the bar next to it. We walk down the street trying to think of something to do. When we walk by the Post Office, Kenny sees something on the side of the building.

"Look!" He runs down the alley a little way and right to a ladder. "They've been painting here and they left the ladder! Let's climb up to the roof!"

Guthrie and I look up to the roof. It's only a two-story building so it's not that high up. The roof has a flat top so we won't slide off trying to get on it. We've been on top of roofs before so I'm not scared to go up.

"Ok," I say. "I'll go first." The ladder is resting against the side of the building, and Guthrie and Kenny put it into position so it goes up to the roof. Once the ladder's in place, I start to climb up.

"No, wait Heidi. Let me go up first," Guthrie says. "Then I can help you off the ladder at the top."

I jump down and let Guthrie climb up. Once he gets to the top and gets off the ladder, I climb up. Guthrie helps me off the ladder and I look around. The building isn't that big so the roof isn't that wide. I walk around a little bit and the roof has little rocks all over it kind of like a little bit of gravel on top of the shingles. You can kind of slide around on it if you want to. When all three of us are on top, we walk to the front of the building that faces the street side.

There's a short wall at the edge and we stand there and look over the side. A few people are walking below us and Kenny whispers, "duck!"

I crouch down behind the wall and watch Kenny pick up a handful of gravel and throw it over the side.

"Hey!" Someone yells from down below. "Did you feel that?"

Someone else says, "yeah, it felt little rocks falling on me! Where'd they come from?"

All three of us smile at each other and laugh quietly. We wait until we can't hear them anymore before we stand up and look down below.

"That was funny," Guthrie says. We look around for other people to throw gravel on, but we don't see anyone. The Post Office is kind of far down the street from Marie's and the bar which are the only businesses open now. We slide around on the gravel seeing who can slide the farthest. I hear people talking so I run to the front of the building.

"Look, here comes someone else!" I yell. Kenny and Guthrie run up to me and we all crouch down behind the wall and this time I pick up a handful of the rock gravel and throw it over the side. We don't hear anything so we lift our heads up and look down below. The people are walking away. They never even stopped talking to each other.

"You must've missed," Guthrie says. "Let me do it next time."

I'm getting tired of crouching so I sit down on the roof and lean my back against the wall. I look at my shoes and see one's untied so I start tying it.

"Here comes someone else!" Kenny says. "It looks like kids that are our age!"

Guthrie grabs some gravel and him and Kenny peek over the edge.

"Now!" Kenny whispers and Guthrie throws the gravel over the wall and down to the sidewalk.

"Hey!" Someone yells, and we all laugh.

Kenny stands up and looks over the edge and says, "we got you!"

"You think you're funny?" The boy yells up. I listen carefully because the voice sounds familiar. I think it's a boy from my class. Then someone else yells. "Let's see how funny you think it is when me and my brother come up there and beat you up!"

I know that voice! It's Rick's! Guthrie stands up and looks over the edge and groans. I get up and look over and sure enough it's Gary and his brother Rick.

"McFadden!" They both yell.

"Leave us alone!" Guthrie yells down to them.

"You started it by throwing rocks at us," Gary says.

"_Baby_ rocks!" I yell.

"Come on Gary, let's get up there!" Rick yells.

I watch as they look for a way to get up on the roof. I know they're gonna find the ladder soon. Kenny, Guthrie and I follow them around the building from the roof, and when they see the ladder Gary gets on and starts climbing up. I'm scared now.

"Guthrie, what do we do? I'm scared." I ask.

"It's ok Heidi, there's three of us and only two of them," he says.

Then we hear Rick yell, "Gary, get off the ladder!"

He stops climbing and looks down at Rick. "Why?"

"Just do it!" He yells.

"See," Kenny says, "they're afraid of us!"

"You wish!" Rick yells up. When Gary gets off the ladder Rick says, "help me." We watch as Rick starts to move the ladder.

"What are they doing?" I ask.

"I don't know," Guthrie says.

They bring the ladder down to the ground and rest it on it's side. Then Rick picks up one end of it and Gary picks up the other end. "Have fun getting down!" Rick yells up to us and they both laugh. Then they start walking off with the ladder.

"Hey!" Kenny yells. "Put that back!"

"Where are they taking it?" I ask.

We run to the front of the roof and look over the edge. Rick and Gary are laughing as they carry the ladder away and turn down a side street so we can't see them anymore.

"How do we get down?" Kenny asks. We walk along the sides of the roof and look for another way down. There aren't any trees close enough to get on to climb down, and there aren't any other ways down on the sides of the building.

"I guess we're just gonna have to wait for someone to walk by and ask them for help," Guthrie says.

"That could take forever!" I yell.

"Unless you have a better idea, I don't know what else to do," Guthrie says.

"Maybe we could try lowering someone down as far as we can, and then they can jump the rest of the way down," Kenny suggests. "Then they could go find the ladder and bring it back."

"Do you think that would work?" I ask Guthrie.

"No, we're too high up. We'd probably break a leg."

"Or worse," I add.

"We're just gonna have to wait for someone." We walk back to the street side of the building and look around.

"Maybe we could yell for help," I say.

"There's no one around to hear us," Kenny says.

"I bet Brian will come find us. How long do you think we've been gone for?" I ask.

"Long enough," Guthrie says.

"Yeah, my family's probably starting to get mad that I'm not back yet," Kenny said. "My dad said to come back in a half hour. I don't have a watch on but I'm pretty sure we've been gone longer than that."

"Yeah," Guthrie says. "It's probably been almost an hour by now. Brian should start looking pretty soon."

"Good thing it's just Brian and not Adam," I say. "Adam would be mad we were up here."

"I know," Guthrie says. "He'd yell, 'do you know how bad you could've been hurt climbing up there?!'"

I laugh because Guthrie sounds just like Adam. "Yeah, he'd say, 'didn't you guys _think_ about that before you climbed up there?! You could've been killed!'" Guthrie laughs. "Brian will probably laugh when he sees us up here."

"Yeah, he'll probably tell us a story about how he climbed up on top of a roof when he was little," Guthrie says. I laugh because I could see Brian doing that.

"You guys are lucky your brother is like that! My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!" Kenny says. "I'll probably be grounded for a whole month!"

Me and Guthrie laugh and Guthrie says, "we would too if Adam was here!"

When we're all done laughing we're quiet. We stand up behind the short wall and look down. There's no one around at all!

"Help!" I yell and we all laugh. "Help!" I yell louder. Then we all start yelling. It's really fun until we feel like we've been yelling forever and our voices start to get hoarse. I turn around and lean against the wall and slide down to the roof top. This isn't fun anymore. Why'd Rick and Gary have to be so mean? If I would've known it was them I would've told Guthrie and Kenny not to throw _anything_ at them!

"Someone's coming!" Guthrie yells. I stand up and look over the edge and down the street towards Marie's. "Help!" We all yell. "Help!"

They must hear us because they start walking down the street faster.

"Oh man!" Kenny says. It's my mom and dad!" Kenny ducks down to hide behind the wall.

"What are you kids doing up there?!" Kenny's dad says.

"Some bullies stole the ladder!" I yell.

"Is Kenny up there with you, Guthrie?" His mom asks.

Guthrie's quiet and Kenny whispers, "please don't tell on me."

"Kenny! If you're up there and don't show yourself now, you'll be grounded for a year instead of a month!" His dad yells up. Kenny stands up.

"What are you doing up there?!" His dad asks us again.

"We were just trying to have fun. We were sliding around on the gravel up here and throw...," I start to say until Guthrie puts his hand over my mouth.

"Tell your sister to shut up!" Kenny says.

"I'll try, but she does this a lot."

"Get down!" Kenny's dad says.

I try to get Guthrie's hand off my mouth but I can't.

"We can't get down," Kenny says. "Some kids stole the ladder we used to climb up here."

"What?!" His dad sounds madder.

I finally get free from Guthrie and yell, "they took it over there." I point to where the alley is. "Can you get it for us?"

Guthrie jabs me in the side and says, "please. They took it down that street over there." Guthrie points and Kenny's dad walks down the street. He turns into the street and we can't see him anymore. I look down below me at the street and see a few more people standing there. It looks like Kenny's sisters and a few other people.

"I hope he finds the ladder quick," I say. Just as I say that Kenny's dad comes walking back with no ladder.

"Where's the ladder?" Kenny asks.

"I couldn't find it!" He yells.

We all three groan. Now there's even more people down there looking up at us.

"I'll go get Brian," Kenny's mom says as she walks down the street to Marie's.

"I'll go tell Frank at the firehouse to bring a ladder down here and get these kids off the roof," some guy says.

"Oh man. This is horrible!" Guthrie says.

"Why? It's just Brian that's here." I remind him.

"You know we live in a small town! Everyone's gonna be talking about this for a long time!" He says.

I groan. He's right. When you live in a small town like Murphys, everyone knows your business! I sit back down on the roof.

"Here comes Brian," Guthrie says.

"Is Laura with him? Maybe he won't yell at us if she is," I say.

"Yeah, she's with him, but he looks mad. Heidi, let me do the talking ok? Please? You always get us in more trouble when you talk." Guthrie says.

"No I don't!" I yell even though I know he's right.

"What are you doing up there?!" Brian yells. He's yelling louder than Kenny's dad! "Where's Heidi?!"

"She's right here," Guthrie says as I stand up.

"Isn't this kind of funny?" I ask while trying to laugh a little bit.

"Stop it!" Guthrie yells at me and he pushes me back down. "He doesn't think it's funny _now_, he'll think it's funny later. Probably when we're driving home."

"Jeez!" Kenny says. "I think everyone in town is down there now!"

I sit up and peek over the edge. There's a lot of people down there. Probably everyone that was eating at Marie's. I even see Marie down there. I sit back down and pull my knees up to my chest. This is not good!

"The fire truck is here," Guthrie says.

"Why'd they bring the whole truck and not just the ladder?" I ask.

"I don't know," Kenny says. "I guess that's just how they do it. One time my neighbor's cat got stuck in our tree and they brought the big truck. At least this is just the little one."

I hear lots of talking down there and then I see the top of a ladder go up on the side of the building.

"I'm coming up," I hear someone say.

Guthrie and Kenny walk over to the ladder and someone tells them to stand back. It sounds like Frank. I watch as I see the top of a fireman's hat and then I see Frank's face, and then the rest of him as he climbs from the ladder onto the roof.

"Hi Heidi, Guthrie, Kenny," he says to us. "We're gonna climb down now. Bill's at the bottom of the ladder holding it steady. You're going to climb down with me. Heidi, you're first."

I stand up and walk over to Frank. He climbs back onto the ladder and climbs down a few rungs. "Climb on," he says.

"But you're standing there. I can climb down by myself. I've done it lots of times," I tell him.

"I'm sure you have, but we need to make sure you're safe. Come on," he says as he holds out his hand and motions for me to come over.

"_You're_ not even holding on with both hands! How is _that_ safe?!" I yell. I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him.

Frank sighs and yells, "Brian!"

"Yeah?!" I hear Brian yell. It sounds like he's at the bottom of the ladder.

"Heidi's not cooperating," he says down.

"Heidi, get your butt on that ladder and get down here!" Brian yells up.

I walk over to the side and yell, "I can climb down all by myself!"

"Stand back away from the edge!" Frank yells.

Guthrie pulls me back and says, "Heidi, just climb down with Frank. You're making this worse."

"He's right Heidi," Frank says.

"Don't make me climb up there and get you!" Brian yells.

"Ok! But I'm not a baby!" I yell as I walk over to Frank. He helps me get on the ladder and then we start climbing down together. My back is to his chest as we climb down. It's like he's my shadow or something. When we get to the bottom he gets off the ladder and I climb down the last few rungs by myself.

I put my hands on my hips and glare up at Frank. "I could've done that by...," I start to yell, but I feel someone yank my arm from behind me and spin me around. I look up and see an angry Brian looking down at me.

"You'd better be telling him thank you!" He yells.

I sigh and turn around. "Thanks Frank." He nods his head at me and climbs back up the ladder. Brian leads me to the front of the Post Office and pushes me down so I'm sitting on the porch steps.

"Don't move!" He yells at me and then he goes back to the side of the building. In a little bit he comes back with Guthrie.

Once Kenny is sitting with us we watch Frank and Bill walk by with the ladder and put it on their truck. Brian and Kenny's dad are talking with Ed, the other fireman.

"Do you think we're in trouble?" I ask Guthrie.

"From Brian? I don't know yet. I'm sure we'll be in trouble with Adam when he finds out, but Brian might not be mad once we start driving home."

"I know I'm in trouble," Kenny says. "I'm also gonna beat that Gary kid up at school tomorrow! Are you with me on that Guthrie?"

"I don't know. We've had a lot of problems with his family," Guthrie tells him.

"I'll beat him up with you," I tell Kenny.

"Heidi, you'd better not," Guthrie says. "Mr. Brick might expel you."

"No he won't. He didn't tell Adam that. He said he'd expel _Gary_ if _he_ bothered me again," I say.

"Well, if I were you, I wouldn't go near him. Promise me you won't."

"No! He did something really mean to us tonight!"

Guthrie groans. "You'll make a big mistake if you beat him up. Just promise me you'll think about it before you do it. Ok?"

"Sure. I'm thinking about it right now," I say, smiling at him.

"No. Think about the _bad_ stuff that could happen if you fight with him. Please?" Guthrie asks.

"Ok, but I can't think of anything bad that could happen."

"Then you're not thinking hard enough!" He yells. I look over at him and glare. I start to say something but Kenny's dad, Brian and Ed are are standing in front of us.

Ed starts talking. "Climbing up on that roof was a very dangerous thing to do." He starts saying other stuff but I don't listen. He sounds like Adam except without the yelling part. I wonder what time it is. I wonder if Laura is coming home with us. I watch her talking to Kenny's mom. I wonder what she thinks about all this. I don't get much more time to think about that because I hear Brian yelling my name.

"Heidi! Aren't you listening?!" He yells.

I look at him and just stare.

"Well?!"

"Just say yes," Guthrie whispers so I nod my head at Brian. I only hope he doesn't ask me what Ed said because I don't know what he said. Adam always asks me what he said when he thinks I'm not listening to him. I think it's a trick.

"Heidi!" Brian yells again.

Now what?! I guess I wasn't listening again. Guthrie whispers, "say yes, and then say you're sorry."

I do that and that seems to be what Brian wanted to hear because he's not looking at me anymore. I guess Ed's done talking to us because he stops talking and turns to Brian and Kenny's dad.

"Go get in the jeep!" Brian yells to us. We all get up and Kenny walks over to his mom while Guthrie and I start walking to the jeep. Laura walks with us.

"Sorry we ruined your dinner," Guthrie says to her.

"You didn't ruin it. I know what you did was dangerous, but it sure must've been fun to be up there. I used to do things like that with my brother when I was younger."

"You did?" I ask. I look up at her and she looks down at me and smiles. I smile back and say, "I don't know why Brian's so mad at us, he did this kind of stuff too when he was younger."

When we get to the jeep Laura sits in front and Guthrie and I sit in back. I stand up behind Laura's seat and ask her, "are you coming over to our house with us? Are you gonna spend the night?" I smile really big at her.

She smiles back but says, "no, Brian's going to take me home."

"Why? Is it because of what we did?" I ask.

She laughs. "No."

"Don't you like Brian?" I ask her.

"Sure I like Brian," she says.

"Then why aren't you sleeping over?"

Guthrie nudges me and says, "quit bugging her!"

"It's ok," Laura says. "Heidi, I'm not coming over to spend the night because I like Brian and want to get to know him better."

"But don't you spend the night with other guys?" I ask, and Guthrie groans.

"I used to," she says. "But now that I'm older I'm looking for someone that wants more than to just have fun."

I sit down and think about that. Brian said he just wanted to have fun to one of the girls that spent the night this week. "So Brian just wants to have fun, and you don't?" I ask Laura.

"Well, I don't know what Brian wants. That's why I want to get to know him better."

I'm confused. "Can't you just get to know him better by spending the night with him?" Laura doesn't get to answer because Brian gets in the jeep.

"Sorry," he says to Laura.

"No problem," she says. Brian starts the jeep and drives.

"Brian, how come..," I start to say, but Brian interrupts me.

"I don't want to hear anything from you two until we get home. I mean it not one peep!"

I look at Guthrie and he mouths, "he's mad."

I sigh and look out my window. I hope he doesn't stay mad for long.

* * *

Brian takes Laura to the Miller's ranch. He gets out of the car and walks her up to the house. I watch to see if they kiss goodnight. The porch light is on and I can see them talking and then Brian kisses her. It's a long kiss, not a little one. Then they're done and Laura goes inside. Brian jumps down the porch steps and runs to the jeep.

"Can we talk now?" I ask him when he gets in.

"No!"

"Why are you so mad at us?!" I yell.

He turns around and yells, "I don't want to hear another word come out of your mouth!"

I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him. Fine! I won't say another word!

* * *

When we get home and open the front door the house smells really bad from all the perfume I spilled earlier. Brian tells us to get ready for bed and come back downstairs. We run upstairs to do that while Brian walks into the kitchen.

"Why's he still mad?" I ask Guthrie.

"I don't know," he says. "I'm just as surprised as you are."

I close the door to my room and put my flannel horse pajamas on. I look at my clock and see that it's almost 11:00. I bet Adam called while we were gone. He's probably wondering where we are. I open my door and look downstairs. Brian is sitting on the couch drinking a beer. He looks up at me and he still looks mad. I look away and walk down to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Guthrie's brushing his so I wait in the hallway until he's done. The telephone rings and Brian gets up to answer it.

"Hello?" He listens and then says, "hey. We were in town." He's quite for a second before he yells, "yes I know what time it is! Listen, can I call you back? I've got some things I need to take care of before I talk to you." He's listening again before he says, "no, I'll let you talk to them when I call back. They're the _things_ I need to take care of." Then he says bye and hangs up the phone.

Guthrie comes out of the bathroom and I go in. I think I'll brush my teeth for a long time. I don't like it when Brian's mad. He explodes just like me when he's mad. Usually Adam doesn't let us talk to each other when we're both mad.

"Let's go Heidi!" Brian yells upstairs. "You've brushed for long enough!"

I walk out of the bathroom holding my toothbrush. "Hannah says we have to brush for a long time."

"You're done! Get down here!"

I go back into the bathroom and finish up. Then I walk downstairs and sit on the couch next to Guthrie. Brian is sitting on the couch across from us glaring at us.

Guthrie whispers, "don't talk! Just agree with everything he says."

I nod my head even though that's gonna be hard for me to do.

"What we're you guys thinking, climbing up there on that roof?!" Brian yells. Guthrie puts his hand on top of mine and squeezes it. I guess that means don't talk, but I can't help it.

"I don't know why you're so mad at us! You did that when you were our age!" I yell. Guthrie takes his hand off mine and slaps it against his forehead.

Brian doesn't like what I said because he jumps up off the couch and Guthrie and I squeeze closer together. "Do you know how dangerous that was?!" He yells.

I jump up too and yell, "why do you care! We didn't get hurt, did we?!" Guthrie pulls me back down onto the couch.

"You didn't get hurt _this_ time!" He yells.

"Look at you!" I yell back. "You never got hurt!"

Brian walks in front of the coffee table that's in between the couches so he's on our side of it. I'm getting scared now 'cause he looks so mad. He sits down on it and glares at me.

"Why are you so mad?!" I ask him again. "When we do stuff like this you always tell us about the time you did it when you were a kid! You'd smile or laugh at stuff like this!"

"Because I've never been in charge all by myself before!" He yells. "Usually Adam or Crane is around! You guys really scared me!"

Brian stares at us and his eyes start to soften. He doesn't look as mad anymore. It also looks like he's thinking about something. Then he stares straight ahead, not really at us, but kind of in between us like we're not here and says, "I guess I never really thought about something bad ever happening to you before. I always let Adam worry about that kind of stuff."

Guthrie and I look at each other and shrug our shoulders. "I don't think he's talking to us," he whispers to me.

Then Brian looks at us and says, "you guys could've gotten really hurt up there. You could've fallen off the ladder trying to get up there, or worse, fallen off the roof."

"You're starting to sound like Adam," I say to him.

"Good!" He yells. "Maybe I need to start sounding more like Adam!"

"Stop talking!" Guthrie whispers to me.

Brian looks at me. "You've been in nothing but trouble this whole week! How many times did I have to come pick you up from school this week? Three? And there's still one more day to go!"

"Um, Brian," Guthrie says, "I haven't gotten in trouble at all this week at school. Are you mad at me too?"

Brian looks at Guthrie and says, "you're older than Heidi! You shouldn't be letting her do stuff like you did tonight! She's only ten!"

"Now you really sound like Adam!" I yell.

Guthrie jabs me in my side with his elbow. "I'm sorry Brian," Guthrie says to him.

I look at Guthrie. "What! Why are you saying sorry to him when you know he did the same stuff as us when he was our age?!"

"Because we shouldn't of climbed up there. We knew it was wrong."

"What?! Now you sound like Adam!" I yell at him.

Then Brian starts talking. "Just because I did stuff when I was younger doesn't mean...,"

I groan. Here we go with the 'just because I did the same stuff as you doesn't mean you can do it' speech. Now Brian really sounds like Adam. I look at him while he talks and wonder when he's gonna be done. I still don't understand why he's mad. This is Brian! He does lots of things that are wrong all the time and he's an adult now. I look at him and his mouth isn't moving anymore and he's glaring at me. I feel Guthrie jab me. "What?" I ask.

"Are you even listening to me?!" He yells.

I stare at him. Adam always asks me the same question! I always say yes, so I'll say it to Brian too, "yes."

He glares at me. "Then what did I just say?"

I keep on staring at him. That's the same thing Adam always says too! "Do _you_ know what you just said?" I ask. I would _never_ ask Adam that!

"What?! Yes I know what I just said!"

"Then why are you asking me?!" I yell.

Brian stands up now and glares down at me. "You are so frustrating!" He yells at me. "I don't know how Adam does this!" I don't think he's yelling that at me because he looks up at the ceiling when he says that part. Then he pulls me up off the couch and sits back down on the coffee table. We're looking eye to eye now and he starts shaking me a little as he yells at me.

"What you did was stupid! You could've been hurt really bad and I don't ever want you to do that again!" I start to cry because he's yelling right in my face and because he's squeezing my arms really tight.

"I'm sorry!" I cry. His eyes look so mad! It's like he doesn't see me. "Brian!" I yell. "I'm sorry!" Then his eyes start to soften and I know he can see me. He stops shaking me and hugs me.

"I was so worried about you," he says. "Seeing you up there on that roof really scared me. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"I'm sorry." I tell him.

We hug each other for a while until I'm done crying. Then he starts talking and not yelling.

"Guthrie, you really scared me too. Now I know how mom and dad felt when I would do something stupid like this. I guess I know how Adam feels too. I've gotta stop acting like what you do is ok, or funny."

"No!" I tell him. "Then you'll be just like another dad! I don't need another dad! I like you just the way you are!"

"Maybe I need to start thinking and acting more like a dad and less like an older brother," he says and I start to cry again.

"No!" I cry into his chest as he hugs me.

"Brian, what are you going to tell Adam?" Guthrie asks.

"I'm not sure yet. He needs to hear about this roof thing from us and not from someone in town when he gets back home," he says.

"Then he'll ground us for a week!" I cry.

Brian laughs a little and says, "I think you were gonna be grounded for a week way earlier this week. I think you're gonna be grounded for a long time after what you did tonight, and for everything else you did this week."

"The week isn't over yet," Guthrie reminds him. "There's still one more day to go."

"I'm sure you'll stay out of trouble at school tomorrow, won't you?" He asks while he hugs me.

I nod my head and try not to think about how I told Kenny I'd help him beat up Gary tomorrow. Maybe Kenny or Gary will be absent and I won't have to fight.

"Let's call Adam," Brian says. Guthrie and I both groan. I pull away from Brian so I can look at him.

"Do I have to talk to him? Can't you just tell him I'm in bed? Please?"

"I don't know, I don't think that'll work." He gets up and I sit back down on the couch.

Brian walks over to the phone and dials. I look at Guthrie and I can tell he was crying earlier too. "Do you want to do all the talking?" I ask him.

"He's gonna want to talk to you too," he says. He looks sad.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I was good all week. I didn't get in trouble at school or anything and I was so close to not being grounded!" He says.

"You don't think he would've grounded us for painting Brian's fingernails and drawing on his face, or locking him out of the house?" I ask.

Guthrie looks at me and shrugs his shoulders. "I guess you're right. I think he'll be mad about the door, but not about the prank." Then he smiles. "Heidi, when I'm talking to Adam try to distract Brian. I'm gonna ask him how Brian pranked him back. I figure whatever Brian did to get even he hasn't done to us yet because it would be too embarrassing for us at school. That means he'll do it this weekend when we're in Reno."

"Ok. How should I distract him?"

Guthrie thinks for a minute. "Tell him you're hungry and ask him to make you something to eat."

I glare at him. "I'm ten. He'll tell me to make my own snack."

"Then get a glass of water and drop it on the floor. He'll have to help you clean it up."

"I don't know," I say. "I already broke one thing today."

"Then think of something else."

"Guthrie," Brian says holding the phone out. Guthrie gets up to take the phone and Brian sits down on the couch and takes a drink of his beer. Guthrie keeps staring at me and motioning to me with his head to go into the kitchen. I sigh and get up and go in.

I get a glass down and start filling it with water. When I have my glass full I hold it up and stare at it. I don't want to break it but I don't know how else to distract Brian. I let go of the glass and it falls to the floor and breaks with a loud crash.

It takes Brian a second before he's in here asking me what happened. He looks at the floor and tells me to stand still because I'm barefoot. I stand there and watch him pick up the broken glass pieces that are big and then he gets the broom.

"Sorry," I tell him as he's sweeping up the rest of the glass.

"That's ok. Accidents happen. I think I got all the glass. Go get a rag and wipe up the rest of the water."

I get one out of the laundry room and wipe the floor. By the time I'm done, Guthrie says it's my turn to talk and when I go out to the living room he smiles as he hands me the phone.

"Hi," I say into the phone. Adam is the last person I want to talk to now.

"I hear you didn't have such a good day today," Adam says.

I think about my day and then say, "hey! I thought Brian wasn't gonna tell you what happened at school today! I didn't tell Laura about any of the girls that spent the night!"

Brian is in the living room now and shaking his head at me. Adam says, "what happened at school today?"

I groan. "I'm really tired now." I yawn and say, "I think I should go to bed now."

"Heidi! What happened at school today?" He asks again.

"I might've hit someone," I say quietly.

"Did you get sent home again?" He asks.

"Yes."

"Have you been at school for a full day at all this week?"

I think about that for a minute and try to think about how many days Brian had to pick me up. "I think I have. I can't really remember right now."

"You'd better not get sent home tomorrow. Do you hear me?" He yells that a little bit.

"I hear you," I say. That's true, I can hear him. He didn't ask me if I understood what he said.

He's quiet for a minute and I can tell he's glaring into the phone when he says, "you'd better not get sent home tomorrow! Do you _understand_ me?"

"Yes," I say quietly. Darn. I really hope Kenny or Gary is absent tomorrow.

"Go to bed now. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I say sadly. I hand the phone to Brian and go sit on the couch. I cover my face with my hands and cry.

Guthrie sits next to me. "What's wrong?"

"Adam is mad at me," I tell him.

"He was mad at me too. But he did tell me how Brian got him back."

I wipe my eyes and look at Guthrie. "How?"

"He gave him trick gum. It turned his teeth all black and it didn't even come off when he brushed his teeth," Guthrie says quietly. "It took a few days for his teeth to get white again. If Brian gives you gum tell him you'll chew it later."

I nod my head. I hear him, but I still feel sad. When Brian's off the phone he tells us it's time to go to bed. I get up slowly and start walking over to the stairs and Brian picks me up from behind. He turns me towards him and I put my arms around his neck.

"Adam's mad at me," I tell him as he carries me up the stairs.

"I know. He's mad at me too."

"He is?"

"Yeah. I guess he doesn't think I'm doing a good job of taking care of you guys this week."

"Brian? I miss everyone."

"Me too," he says as he lays me down on my bed.

I get under the covers and he sits down on my bed. I start to cry and he puts his hand on my cheek to wipe away a tear that falls down it. "Do you think they miss us?" I ask.

He nods his head.

"Is this what it feels like when someone dies?" I ask. I start to cry harder.

He lifts me up out of bed and puts me onto his lap and hugs me. "No. It feels worse than this." He rubs my back and says, "_you_ know you're going to see everyone tomorrow. When someone dies you know you're _never_ going to see that person again and it hurts so bad."

"Is that what it felt like when mom and dad died?"

"Yes. It hurt really bad to know I was _never_ going to see them again, or talk to them again. I'm glad you were a baby so you didn't have to feel that kind of hurt."

He holds me and rubs my back while I cry. "I can't imagine hurting more than this," I tell him.

"I know you can't. It hurts bad when you miss someone too." He holds me until I'm done crying and then he tells me to lay back down.

I get off his lap and get back in bed and he pulls the covers up. I still feel sad. I look up at him and ask, "Brian, what's gonna happen if I get sent home from school tomorrow?"

He looks down at me and says, "I'll come pick you up."

"Will you be mad?" I ask.

"I'm not gonna be happy," he says as he smiles down at me. "Why are you asking?"

"Would you be mad if I accidentally beat someone up?"

He stops smiling and says, "why are you asking? You're not _planning_ on doing that tomorrow, are you?"

I stare up at him and don't say anything.

"Heidi, you have to think about what you do before you do stuff. I know Adam says that to you all the time, but it's true. It sounds like you _are_ planning to do something wrong tomorrow. If that's true think about what's going to happen afterwards. You know you're going to get caught so you know you're going to be suspended. You also know I'm gonna be mad because I'll have to come pick you up, and you know Adam's gonna be really mad at you if you get suspended again. Is beating someone up worth all that?"

I stare at him and don't say anything.

"When you're at school tomorrow I hope you make the right decision."

"Brian, that sounds just like something Adam would say to me. I think you're doing a good job of taking care of us."

He smiles at me and then kisses the top of my forehead. "Thanks," he says. "Do you want me to tell you a story?"

"Ok." I look up at him and listen to him start to tell a story about when he was ten. I only hear a little bit before my mind starts to wander. I think about school tomorrow and if I'll really be able to stay out of trouble. I'm still thinking about that when my eyes finally close and I go to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

I groan when Brian tries to wake me up in the morning. I roll onto my side and pull the covers up over my head.

"Get up!" He yells while shaking me.

"No! I don't feel good!" I yell.

"You're just tired. Get up!" He pulls the covers off me.

"Brian! Leave me alone! Go wake up Guthrie!"

"That's what I'm going to go do now, and you'd better be up when I come back in here!"

I groan again and find my covers to pull back over me. I don't want to go to school today. I'm just gonna get sent home.

"Get up!" Brian's back!

I groan. "Go away!"

"No! Get up!" Brian says as he takes all my covers off my bed and throws them on the floor.

"Hey!" I sit up and yell, "you just messed up my bed! You need to make it now!"

"I'll do it later. Get dressed now and come eat breakfast." Brian leaves and I sit on my bed thinking about how I can get out of going to school. When Guthrie walks by my door he stops and looks in.

"How come you're not getting ready for school?" He asks.

"Do you want to skip school with me?" I ask him.

He laughs and says, "no. Don't you think we're in enough trouble all ready?"

"Are you gonna help Kenny beat up Gary?" I ask him.

Guthrie stops laughing and says, "oh yeah, I forgot about that. I guess I have to help him. But you can't Heidi! Promise me you won't. I'll help Kenny, that way you don't have to fight and you won't get in trouble."

"I have to help too. I'll look like a baby if I don't!"

"No you won't. Everyone at school knows you're not a baby."

I guess he's right. "Guthrie, can't we just skip school? You're gonna get suspended if you fight. If we skip school we might not get caught."

Guthrie thinks for a minute. "I don't know. Maybe."

Brian yells from the kitchen, "get down here! You're gonna be late!"

I jump off my bed and run to Guthrie. "Think about it," I tell him, as I shut my door so I can get dressed.

* * *

"Brian, do I _have_ to go to school?"

Brian puts a plate of pancakes in front of me and doesn't even look at me while he walks back to the stove and says, "hurry up and eat, or you're gonna be late."

"Did you hear me?" I ask. "Do I have to go to school?" He doesn't answer me. "Brian! Are you listening?!" He doesn't even look at me. I hate it when people ignore me. "Brian! Fine! If you're not gonna talk to me I'm not gonna eat!" I slam my fork down on the table and Guthrie looks at me and smiles. He knows Brian won't stay quiet after that.

Brian turns around slowly and says in his serious voice, "shut up and eat your damn breakfast."

"Hey! You're not supposed to say shut up to me! Or damn! I'm gonna tell on you!"

Guthrie laughs at that.

"Quit encouraging her!" Brian yells at him, but he keeps laughing.

"Why?" Guthrie asks. "Isn't this _fun_?!" He can't stop laughing so Brian hits him on top of his head with an oven mitt. That makes me laugh.

"Come on you two. This is our last day. Eat your breakfast and get out to the bus stop."

I start to eat again but I also start to think. Why do _we_ have to go to school? How come everyone else gets to go away for a _whole_ week? Daniel, Evan and Ford don't have to go to school and Adam and Crane don't have to do any work on the ranch. Brian got to have all kinds of fun this week with girls, and what did me and Guthrie get to do that was fun? Nothing! I'm not going to school today!

I finish eating quickly and hurry to put my dishes in the sink, and run out of the kitchen to go brush my teeth.

* * *

When we walk to the bus stop I tell Guthrie what I've been thinking about.

"Guthrie, we _have_ to skip school! Why does everybody else get to skip out on their work, but we don't get to? It's not fair!"

"Yeah! You're right! Let's skip school! We should get to have some fun too! Besides, then we won't get suspended for fighting."

"Let's go to the lake," I suggest. There's a lake just up from our property. It takes about an hour to walk to it.

"Ok. We've got plenty of time to go there. Let's sneak back to the barn and get our fishing poles. We haven't gone fishing in a long time!"

We stop walking towards the bus stop and turn around. It's not that hard to sneak back onto our property and get to the barn if only Brian is home. We're pretty sure he's still in the house so I hide behind the jeep and watch the house while Guthrie runs into the barn to get our poles. He's in there for a few minutes and then comes running out with them. We meet at the end of our driveway and walk down the street in the opposite direction of our bus stop. We hear a car coming so we run down the embankment on the side of the road and duck down. If we crouch down really low no one should be able to see us. We watch the truck driving down the road but before it gets to us it turns into our driveway.

"That's Laura's truck!" I yell. "The Miller's must be coming to help out now."

"You don't think she saw us do you?" Guthrie asks.

I look at him and shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. What if she did? Do you think she'll tell on us?"

"Yeah. She's nice, like Hannah. You know, like a grown up. She'd have to tell because she wouldn't want anything bad to happen to us," Guthrie says.

"What should we do?" I ask.

"Well, we don't really have a choice. We have to go to the lake. We've already missed the bus so we can't go to school. We could go home and get in trouble for sure, or we could go to the lake and hope Laura didn't see us."

"I guess you're right. I sure hope she didn't see us!"

We walk up the street a little until we find the trail about five minutes up on the right. It's not a real trail like trails people go hiking on, it's a deer path. It's a single file path that goes through the weeds. The weeds come up to my waist on either side of me so we're a little hidden as we walk away from the road. After a while the deer path ends and you have to find your own way for a while until you find another deer path and you just keep walking until you come to the lake. We've walked to the lake a lot with our brothers so we know the way. Well, I don't really, but Guthrie does.

It feels like it's summertime and we're going on an adventure. It's been a long time since Guthrie and I have gotten to go exploring. We explore all the time in the summer, but when it's school time we don't get to do that often. It's the perfect day to go exploring too. It's a nice sunny day.

When we get to the lake we look for a good fishing spot. The lake is small and no one is ever at it. It's on Mrs. Johnson's property and she lives all by herself now. I think she's eighty years old or something because her hair is all white. She has a lot of property and the lake is way far away from her house. She told my brothers they could go fishing or swimming in it whenever they want to.

When we find a good spot I set my lunch and my pole down and start looking for bait. I find a rock to turn over and it has a few good crawly things underneath it.

"Found some," I tell Guthrie. He's looking for bait too. "There's a good-sized centipede thingy." I pick it up and it squirms around in between my fingers. I'm not one of those girls that's scared of bugs and stuff like that so I take it and bring it over to my fishing pole. Guthrie has something in his hand too. We put our bait on our hooks and cast out.

"What are we gonna do with the fish we catch?" I ask. "We can't bring them home."

"Right. Do want to just catch and release?" He asks.

I usually hate doing that. I'm fine with putting a worm on a hook, but hooking a fish and taking it off the hook and throwing it back in the water with a hole in its mouth seems mean. Guthrie always thinks that funny. He says, "you'll catch a fish and bang its head on a rock to kill it and that's fine, but you think it's mean to catch a fish and put it back in the water."

"I guess we have to release today. Since we're supposed to be at school we can't bring the fish home." I sit down on a log holding my pole and waiting. I love to go fishing but I hate the waiting part. Usually I sit with my pole for about ten minutes and then prop it up somewhere and climb a nearby tree or explore the area around where my pole is looking for frogs or turtles or some other little animal. I've only been sitting for a few minutes now and I'm already bored. I look around and see a big oak tree a few feet behind me that I want to climb.

"Guthrie, watch my pole for me. I'm gonna go climb that tree," I say as I point to the tree behind us. I prop my pole up in a rock outcropping and walk to the tree. I look up and it looks like a really good tree to climb. It's huge and I can tell I'll be able to climb up pretty high. Probably almost all the way to the top.

"Guthrie, come help me." The closest branch is too high up for me to reach on my own so I'm gonna need a boost. Guthrie walks over and puts his hands together so I can put my foot on them and climb up. The nearest branch is still too high so it takes a couple of tries to try to reach it, but I finally do. I start climbing while Guthrie goes back to our fishing poles.

It's a good climb up. I like trees that are challenging to climb up. It's no fun if you can climb straight up to the top in only a few minutes. This tree is going to take me a while to climb up.

"I got one!" I hear Guthrie yell. I look down and watch Guthrie reel in the fish he caught. Once I see what size his fish is I start climbing up again. When I'm almost to the top I stop climbing and look around. I'm pretty high up and can see everywhere! I love being as high as I possibly can. Wether I'm climbing a tree, a hill, or a mountain, I try to climb as high as I possibly can. Before I start climbing again I see something that catches my eye. It's someone walking over to the lake!

"Guthrie! Someone's coming!" I yell down. Guthrie stands up and looks in the direction we came. As the person gets closer I can see who it is. "Guthrie! It's Brian!" By now Brian sees Guthrie and starts walking even faster than he already was. "What should I do?" I ask.

"Nothing. Just stay up there. And whatever you do DON'T talk!"

"Guthrie! You're supposed to be in school! Where's Heidi?!" Brian yells and starts looking around for me.

"Heidi's not here," Guthrie says quietly.

Brian looks at him and yells, "yes she is! Her fishing pole is right there and Laura said she saw both of you running off the side of the road! Heidi! Get out here!"

Brian is mad! Very mad! Just like Adam would be. I don't like this new Brian! If Adam were here and Brian was with him he'd probably let Adam do all the yelling and then he'd remind Adam of a time when they did this and he'd laugh. I don't think he's gonna do that today.

"Where are you?! Guthrie! Where is she?! You'd better come out now!" Brian yells.

"I'm up here!" I yell down. Brian looks up and sees me in the tree.

"Get down here now!" He yells.

I don't say a word. I just stare down at him. There is _no_ way I'm going down there!

He yells at me again, "get down here now! Don't make me climb up there!"

"Ha! How are you gonna do that?! _Climb_ me down?" I think that's pretty funny but I only laugh a little because I can see Guthrie shaking his head at me and he puts his finger to his lips to remind me to be quiet. Brian looks even madder now, but he's not climbing up. I didn't think he would.

I watch Brian start to pace below the tree and rub his forehead with his hand. That's _exactly_ what Adam looks like when he's mad at us and needs to think about something! I wonder what Brian is thinking about.

"Brian, we're sorry," Guthrie tells him.

Brian stops pacing and looks at him. "Yeah? Well, sorry isn't good enough! You're supposed to be at school right now! Not out here having a play day!"

"Why are you so mad?!" I yell down. "It's not like you never skipped school before!" I hear Guthrie groan a little but I don't care. I'm getting so mad. "Besides, it was either skip school, or go to school, get in a fight and get suspended! Skipping school seemed like the best thing to do!"

Guthrie walks over to a log and sits down. I look down at him and he looks up at me and shakes his head.

"The best thing to do would've been to go to school and _not_ fight!" Brian yells.

I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him. I feel so angry right now and that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Why would _I_ be angry if _I_ did something wrong and got caught? Brian looks really mad and I don't feel scared of him. That doesn't make any sense to me either. "It didn't seem like the _best_ thing to me!" I yell. "You keep on sounding more and more like Adam each day! Quit trying to be _another_ dad! I don't like you when you're like that! You're just supposed to be my brother!" I start to cry now and I don't know why I'm doing that either. Brian and Guthrie stare at me.

"Heidi!" Brian starts to yell something but I stop him.

"No! Everybody left us! Adam didn't want to stay here and take care of us! He's been gone for five whole days and the only thing he wants to know when he calls is if I was good! He's supposed to be the dad and he left!" I'm crying really hard now as I yell. "You didn't stay home to take care of us, you stayed home so you could make babies with a bunch of girls while everyone else is gone! You couldn't wait for us to go to bed every night so some girl could come over! You didn't want to take care of us, you got _stuck_ with us!" I can tell by the expression on his face that I'm right and that makes me cry harder.

I look over at Guthrie and he's crying too. Brian has a look on his face now that looks like he doesn't know what to do. He keeps looking back and forth at us and then he starts pacing again and talking quietly to himself. Adam does that too. Finally he stops pacing and looks up at me.

Brian slowly says, in his most serious voice ever, "get down here now, or _none_ of us are going to Reno tonight."

"What?!" I yell. "You can't do that!"

"You don't believe me?!" He yells up. "Just stay up there then, and try me! I can do whatever I want because _I'm_ in charge!" He walks over to a log near Guthrie's and sits down.

Guthrie's still crying and he yells up to me, "Heidi, just climb down! I want to go to Reno!"

I look at Guthrie and he looks at me and I can tell from his eyes he really wants me to come down, so I start to climb down. I'm afraid of Brian so I stop before I reach the bottom making sure I'm up high enough so Brian can't reach me.

"Why aren't you getting down?" Brian asks. He's not yelling, which is good I guess.

"I'm afraid of you," I tell him.

"Afraid of what?!"

"I don't know. Just you. You're mad at me."

"I'm not going to hurt you if that's what you're thinking," he says calmer. "When have I ever hurt you?"

"Well, when I tried to run away once you squeezed my arm really hard, and once when I ...,"

"Come down! I'm not going to hurt you!" When he sees I'm not budging he says quietly, "I promise."

I believe him when he says that so I climb down as far as I can and stop to look at the part I have to jump down. It's pretty far down. I know I can jump it, but I also know it's gonna hurt. Either I'm gonna land hard on my feet which will hurt a lot, or I'll land on my hands and knees which will hurt too.

"Why are you stopping now?" Brian asks.

"I'm just trying to decide the best way to jump down."

"Do you want help?" He asks.

"No. I can do it. I'm not a baby," I tell him and I can hear him sigh. "Besides, if you weren't here I'd have to jump down by myself anyways." I count to three in my head and jump down. I land hard on my feet and then they buckle so I'm on my knees and I put my hands out to stop my face from hitting the ground. My hands and knees sting, but I'm pretty tough so I don't cry at first. I'm used to getting cuts and scrapes. I look at my hands to see how badly they're scraped and some of the scratches are bleeding and there's teeny tiny rocks embedded in them.

"Are you ok?" Brian asks.

I nod my head and rub my hands on my jeans carefully to get the dirt and rocks off and it stings bad. My eyes start to water but I'm not gonna let Brian see that.

"Come sit next to me," he tells me.

I sit on the log next to Brian and look across at Guthrie. He's wiping his eyes.

Brian sits down on the log next to me and sighs. "I'm sorry you guys feel left out. I guess Adam and Hannah should've stayed home with you. Crane and I thought it would be fun for them to get away and have some privacy."

"They have plenty of privacy at home," I tell him. I find a stick on the ground near my feet and I pick it up and start poking at the ground with it. "They have their own bedroom."

Brian starts talking again but I'm not listening. Instead I'm playing with a big ant near my feet. When the ant walks I put the tip of my stick in it's path so it has to walk around the stick. It starts walking around like crazy and I keep putting the stick in its path.

"Heidi!" I hear Brian yell.

I jump a little and look up at him. "What?" I hear Guthrie groan.

"Aren't you listening to me?"

I look back down at the ant and start playing with it again while I say, "sure. You were talking to us."

"What'd I say then?"

I have no clue. If they know I'm not listening, why do they always ask that? "You said something about skipping school?" I ask that like a question because I'm not sure if I'm right. The ant is moving fast now so I have to move my stick around fast too.

"No that's not what I said!" Brian yells. "Quit playing around and listen to me!"

"I am listening, I just don't remember what you said."

I think that made Brian mad because all of a sudden he stomps on the ant I'm playing with!

I jump up, look at him and yell, "hey! I was playing with that! Adam wouldn't have done that! He would've just told me to put the stick down!"

"Put the stick down!" He yells.

I don't. I glare at him and say, "Adam would've asked me nicely to put the stick down. He wouldn't have yelled it at me!"

"I'm not Adam! Put the damn stick down and pay attention!"

"Jeez. You don't have to swear all you had to do was...,"

He grabs the stick out of my hand and throws it as far as he can.

"Adam wouldn't have done that either. He would've _taken_ the stick out of my hand instead of _grabbing_ it. Then he would've set it down next to him instead of throwing it way far away."

"Sit down and shut up!" He yells.

"You're also not supposed to say shut ...,"

Brian jumps up now and I sit down quickly. "Would you quit telling me what Adam would've done?! Believe me, I wish Adam was here right now because I don't know how the heck he does this!" Then he walks away from us and paces.

I look at Guthrie and he shrugs his shoulders. I look down at the ground and see the dead ant. I move it close to the log and cover it up with some dirt. Brian stomps back over to us and stops in front of me.

"Look at me!" He yells so I look up at him. He looks very mad. "Heidi, I am this close...," he keeps talking but I'm looking at the fingers he's holding up showing me how close he is to doing something. I wonder if I should run. I look around me to see which way would be best. I look back up at Brian when I hear him yell, "if you run from me you're gonna wish you hadn't!"

He's right. I decide it's best not to run.

"Get your fishing poles! We're going home!" Brian yells.

We both jump up and run to get our poles.

"Heidi, I told you not to talk," Guthrie says. "Brian's really mad now. Let me talk on the way home if Brian wants to talk. Ok?"

"Ok." We grab our poles and our lunches and run to catch up with Brian who's already started walking back.

Guthrie runs up to him. Brian starts talking about skipping school and things like that while I follow way far behind. I'm close enough to hear that they're talking, but far away enough to not be able to hear _what_ they're talking about.

I wonder if Brian's going to tell Adam we skipped school? I hope he doesn't. But of course he's going to. I live with a big bunch of big brother tattle tales! Well, not all of them are tattle tales, just some of them. Thinking of them now starts to make me feel sad. I really miss everyone and I can't wait to go to Reno.

* * *

Brian drove the jeep to the trail head of the lake. When we drive home and park I can see Laura riding over to us from the pasture. She's on Brian's horse. When she gets to us she climbs off and says, "I'm so glad Brian found you. I was so worried about you two. I saw you walking down the side of the road and I didn't know where you were going."

I stare at her not saying a word. She smiles at me.

"I hope you're not too mad at me for telling Brian, but I was just so worried about you." Then she smiles at Guthrie and he says, "that's ok. I guess I understand."

"How about you Heidi?" She asks. "Do you forgive me?"

I look at her and shrug my shoulders. She reminds me a lot of Hannah when she asks that. I miss Hannah. "I guess so," I finally say.

"Good." Then she looks at Brian. "Brian, I'll be out by the north fence. Heidi, Guthrie, if I don't see you before you leave, have fun in Reno."

"Thanks," Guthrie says. I just look down at the ground. Laura gets back up on the horse and rides off.

"Do you still like her?" I ask Brian.

"I don't want to talk about that now," Brian tells me. "In fact, I don't want to talk about anything right now." He looks at his watch. "It's too late to take you guys to school now. By the time I get you there it'll be after lunch. You're just gonna have to stay home and do some work. Follow me."

We follow him to the barn where we put away our fishing poles.

"Grab a shovel and bring your lunches." We get shovels and follow him back to the jeep. "Get in," he says. We do and he drives us out to the south fence and stops. We all get out and he walks to the fence. "Give me a shovel." Guthrie hands him his, and Brian starts digging a hole around a broken fence post. "You guys are gonna dig holes. You need to dig a deep hole. If you get hungry, eat your lunch. I'll be back to check on you in about an hour." He walks back to the jeep and drives off.

We both groan and start digging.

"I wonder how deep we're supposed to dig," I ask.

"I don't know. He didn't really say. I guess deep enough to take out the broken post."

We dig around the post and luckily the ground is still soft from all the rain we had a little while back.

"Hey, we could dig pretty deep with the dirt being so soft. Let's dig as far down as we can and see if we can find water," I suggest. "You know, like a well!"

"Ok!" Guthrie yells. "Let's see who can find water first!" We each pick a spot to start digging and get to work. After a while I get tired and watch Guthrie dig while I eat my lunch. His hole is deeper than mine. Pretty soon he stops to eat too. We both get up on the fence to eat and look down at our holes.

"We're never gonna find water, are we?" I ask Guthrie.

"I guess not." He's quiet for a minute. "Hey, we should dig towards each others holes to make one big giant hole! Like a hole someone could lay down in!"

"Like a grave!" I yell.

"Yeah!"

We hurry up and finish eating and get back to work. It's fun making one big giant hole. We finally get it wide enough for someone to lay down in, now we have to make it deep like a grave. We work at it for a long time and we finally have the whole hole about two feet deep.

"Wait 'till Brian sees this!" Guthrie says when we stop to rest.

"I know! He's gonna love it!"

We turn around when we hear the jeep drive up. Brian gets out and walks over to us.

"Look Brian! Look at our hole we dug!" I yell excitedly. I run to him and take his hand and pull him to our hole.

"What the heck is that?!" He yells.

I look up at him and say, "it's our hole. Don't you like it?"

"No I don't _like_ it! You were supposed to dig holes! Holes with an s! Holes around broken fence poles. Not one big giant hole!"

Guthrie and I look at each other and Guthrie whispers, "be quiet. Let me talk." Guthrie turns to Brian and says, "sorry, we didn't know that."

"Guthrie, you should've known that. We do this all the time!" Brian yells. I wait to hear what Guthrie's gonna say next.

"I guess I just got excited to dig for water and then we decided to connect our holes and make one giant hole," he says.

"Yeah!" I yell happily. "It's a grave!"

"A grave for what?!" Brian yells.

I shrug my shoulders and say, "I don't know, a cow I guess."

Brian doesn't say anything he just glares at us. "The only graves we need dug around here are little ones for little kids like you!"

Uh-oh.

"Put the dirt back! You wasted all this time digging a stupid grave hole! If you wanna dig graves, make smaller ones for when a calf dies, or that sick little wolf cub you found, or for a ...,"

"What?!" I yell.

Brian looks at me. "What?"

"What did you just say?!" I yell.

"I said, dig a hole for...oh." He's quiet now.

Guthrie says, "Brian, I can't believe you said that."

"Heidi, I'm sorry but,...,"

"You lied to me?!" I can't believe it! "How come he didn't go to the hospital farm?!"

"Heidi, there is no hospital farm," Brian says softly.

He walks towards me to hug me but I run away from him. I run as fast as I can. I don't know where I'm running to, I'm just running and crying wherever my feet take me.

"Heidi! Come back!" Brian yells. I'm not stopping. I hear someone running behind me and I'm pretty sure it's him. He catches up to me and stops me. He picks me up and I hit at his chest and cry.

"You killed him?! How could you do that?!"

He hugs me tight so I can't hit him. "I'm sorry. You weren't supposed to find out."

"Hannah lied to me too?!" I can't believe that. "Why did you have to be so mean!" I yell.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he keeps saying over and over. We're at the jeep now and he puts me in the back seat. Guthrie's in the front and Brian drives back to the house. I cover my face with my hands and cry into them. When the jeep stops I open my door and run towards the house.

* * *

I don't know what to do except run upstairs to my room. Once I'm in there I slam my door shut, pick my blankets up off the floor and lay with them on my bed. I feel so tired from yelling and crying and the tears won't stop. I close my eyes and rock back and forth while I cry.

I hear a knock at my door and Brian says, "Heidi, can I come in?"

"Go away!" I yell and I pull my blanket up over my head. I don't want him to know that I'm still crying.

I hear the door open and I feel Brian sit down on my bed. "Heidi, come on, sit up and let's talk."

"No. There's nothing to talk about. You killed Happy! You killed my puppy and you lied to me! Hannah lied to me too!"

"I'm sorry," he says.

"I don't care! I'm so mad at you! I can't believe you guys lied to me! I don't even want to go to Reno now!"

Brian gets up and says, "well, you have to go. I'm gonna pack some stuff for you." I can hear him opening drawers and shutting them. I peek out from under my blanket to see what he's packing. He throws a bunch of my clothes in a bag and says, "get up, let's go."

I take the covers off and sit up. I feel so sad. Brian carries my bag out and I follow him downstairs. Guthrie's waiting in the living room holding his bag. Brian puts my bag next to the front door and I go sit on the couch. Guthrie sits next to me and gives me a hug.

"I'm sorry Heidi," he says.

I'm quiet and then I think of something. "You knew." I look at him. "You knew and you didn't tell me."

"I'm sorry," he says again.

Something hurts really bad in my stomach. It feels like somebody punched me. I feel like punching someone.

Guthrie gets up and yells, "Brian! Heidi's gonna punch me!" He runs to the kitchen and I chase him in there. Brian runs to me and picks me up.

"If you want to punch someone, punch me," he says so I do. Right in his chest. He hugs me more and I cry on his shoulder while he walks into the living room and sits on the couch. He rubs my back and helps me calm down. "Heidi, I need to pack up the jeep now and go say goodbye to the Millers. Ok?" I nod my head and he lays me down on the couch and gets up. "Guthrie, come help me." I watch them pick up our bags and walk out the front door. I start crying again and I feel exhausted so I shut my eyes.

* * *

I must've fallen asleep because I hear the front door close and people talking. I open my eyes and sit up.

"How are you doing?" Brian asks. I shrug my shoulders and don't say anything.

"Look Heidi," Guthrie says, "Brian gave me a piece of gum for the ride there." He smiles at me but I'm not in the mood to smile back. "Aren't you gonna give Heidi a piece of gum?" He asks Brian.

Brian looks at me and I can tell he doesn't want to give me a piece. I guess he thinks now wouldn't be a good time to prank me with trick gum. I hold out my hand so he hands it to me.

"Don't chew it until we're in the jeep," he tells us.

"Why?" Guthrie asks. "Why can't we chew it now?" Guthrie's smiling a little bit.

Brian says, "just don't!"

"Can I make a snack to take with us?" Guthrie asks.

"Sure, just hurry up and come outside with your bags when you're done. I'm gonna go say goodbye to Laura. Meet me at the jeep."

"You mean you're gonna go _kiss_ Laura goodbye," Guthrie says and laughs. Brian glares at him when he walks out the door. Guthrie turns to me and says, "come on Heidi, I have a good prank to pull on Brian."

That sounds interesting to me so I follow him into the kitchen. I watch him get the peanut butter out and a knife. "Get the jelly and the bread," he tells me. I get those things and put them on the counter next to Guthrie and watch him cut his piece of gum into little pieces. "Give me your gum," he says. He cuts up my gum too. Then he gets two slices of bread and spreads peanut butter all over them. When he's done with that he takes the little gum pieces and puts them on top of one of the slices of bread.

"What are you doing?" I ask. I watch him get two more slices of bread out and then he spreads jelly on them. Then he puts those pieces of bread on top of the peanut butter slices so he has two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

He holds up the sandwich with the gum in it and says, "this one's for Brian."

"Oh." This could be funny. Guthrie picks up both sandwiches and we walk into the living and walk outside to the jeep.

* * *

It seems like we've been waiting for Brian forever! When he finally does come to the jeep he says, "hold on a sec, I gotta go lock up the house." He runs off and we wait some more. When he comes back Guthrie holds out the gum sandwich to Brian.

"Do you want this? I made it for Heidi, but she's not hungry."

He takes the sandwich and we all get in the jeep. Brian starts it and we get on our way.

"How long is it gonna take to get to Reno?" I ask.

"About five hours if there's no traffic," Brian says and he takes a bite of the sandwich. I'm sitting in the backseat and Guthrie's in front and when Brian starts to eat the sandwich, Guthrie turns around and smiles at me. The more of the sandwich Brian eats the more Guthrie starts laughing.

"What's so funny?" Brian asks.

"Nothing!"

Brian turns around and asks me, "do you know what's so funny?" His teeth are already black and it looks so funny, I bust out laughing. "What?!" He asks. He's almost done with the sandwich now and his mouth looks so funny! He knows something's wrong with his face so he looks in the mirror and doesn't see his teeth until he says, "what's so funny?" Now he knows! "What the heck did you guys do?!" He yells.

Guthrie and I can't stop laughing and Brian keeps yelling.

"I guess you won't be kissing any girls tonight!" Guthrie yells and we both laugh.

"I'm gonna kill you two!" Brian yells. We laugh and he starts talking to himself so we keep on laughing. He sounds pretty mad.

"Hey, you can't be mad at us," Guthrie says. "You gave us the gum!" We laugh some more.

"How'd you know?" Brian asks.

"Adam told me," Guthrie says.

Now Brian's yelling some more and he's saying a bunch of curse words! Then Brian yells back at me, "Heidi! You can tell anybody you want to that I'm cursing right now! I don't care!"

That just makes us laugh harder. Guthrie says, "don't worry Brian, I'm sure all the black stuff will wash off when you brush your teeth!"

"Ha! Ha! Very funny! You guys won't be laughing when it's dinnertime and I don't stop anywhere for us to eat!"

"Why not?!" Guthrie asks.

"I'm not going into a restaurant with my teeth looking like this!"

Guthrie yells back, "why not?! You would've made us do it!"

"That's different!" Brian yells.

"How?!"

"You guys are just kids! So laugh all you want to now because I'm not stopping anywhere!" He turns on the radio and starts mumbling to himself.

Guthrie and I laugh for a little while longer, and then I get bored and start looking out the window. We're out of Murphys now and I think about this past week. It's been a bad week. I feel so exhausted now so I lean against the window and close my eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

When I open my eyes and sit up to look out the window we're on a big freeway with lots of cars. I pull myself up so I'm standing up near Brian. "Where are we?" I ask.

He looks back at me and says, "Sacramento. Sit down." He looks back at the road and I stay there.

"Are we almost there?"

"No. Sit down."

I look at Guthrie and he's leaning against the window with his eyes almost closed.

"Heidi, sit down! We're on a freeway."

"But how come you're only driving a little bit? We're going so slow and why are there all these cars?" I ask.

"It's traffic. Now sit down."

"Are all these people going to Reno too?"

"No."

"Where are they going?"

"Home."

"Home from what?"

"Work."

"I'm hungry," I tell him.

"Too bad. I'm not stopping anywhere. Now sit down!"

"I'm really, really hungry."

"I've got some gum, do you want that?" He asks.

"Very funny! Where did you buy that kind of gum?"

"I'm not telling you. You guys are starting to become better pranksters than me. I think I've taught you too much already."

"Let me see your teeth," I say. I'm still standing up and I lean as far forward as I can and Brian turns a little and smiles. "They don't look that black," I tell him.

He looks in the mirror and smiles. "Yeah, I think it's because I didn't chew the gum for a long time. I chewed it and swallowed it right away." He looks back at the road. "Are you going to sit down or do I have to make you put a seatbelt on?"

"I don't think you could find a seatbelt back here. I think they're all stuck in-between the seats. Brian I'm really hungry. Why don't you just brush your teeth for a while? I bet the black stuff would go away. Do you want me to get your toothbrush?"

"No. I told you I'm not stopping anywhere."

"Please? I'm really hungry. I have to go to the bathroom too," I tell him. I hear him groan a little so I think if I keep bugging him I bet he'll take us somewhere to eat. "And remember, I'm a girl. You can't just stop on the side of the road and tell me to go behind a tree." I look out the window. "Besides, there aren't any trees here on the freeway. Sacramento's a big city, isn't it? Brian, is Reno a big city like this?"

"Yes."

"Can we stop now? We're not going anywhere anyway. Please? I really have to go to the bathroom."

"I'll look for a gas station," he says.

Yeah! I sit back down on the seat and then I turn around towards the back of the jeep and lean over the back seat to look for Brian's bag. I bet he'll want to brush his teeth now. I see his bag and pull it up on top of Guthrie's and mine. I unzip it and reach around in his bag.

"Why are you so quiet back there?" Brian asks.

I turn back around and stand up behind him. "I'm not being quiet. I'm just doing something. Did you find a gas station yet?"

"No. Sit down."

I turn back around and lean over the backseat to search through his bag again. I find his small black bag he keeps his toothbrush and razor in, along with other stuff and pull it out. I sit back down in my seat and unzip the bag. Here's his toothbrush. I pull it out and the little bottle of toothpaste. I like these small little tubes. I keep looking through his little black bag and see something I've never seen before. It's these small foil packets all connected together. I count seven packets and each little packet has a picture of a soldier's head or someone that looks like a soldier with a helmet on. Tr-o-jan. Trojan. I think that's how you pronounce the word that's on each packet. There's another word that starts with a c on each packet too, but I don't recognize that word. I put Brian's little black bag next to me on the seat and stand up behind Brian with the packets. I hold them up for him to see.

"Brian? What are these?" I ask.

He looks back at me and I see his eyes get big and then he starts yelling.

"What are you doing?! Give me those!" He turns back around to look at the road and I sit back down in my seat holding the packets. "Heidi?! Why are you going through my stuff?! Give me those now!"

"But what are they?" I ask.

"None of your business! Put my stuff back!"

These are obviously something really important so I tear off one of the packets and put it in my pocket. I'll ask Guthrie what it is later. I put the rest of them back in his bag and stand up behind him again with his toothbrush. "I thought you would want to brush your teeth since we're gonna stop somewhere."

"Did you put those things back?!" He asks. He still sounds mad.

"Yes. I'm sorry Brian. I was just looking for your toothbrush. What were those things?"

"Nothing! I'll take my toothbrush."

I put a little toothpaste on it and hand it to him. "Brian, I have to go to the bathroom."

"I know. You're going to have to wait a minute. I'm looking for an exit with a gas station." He starts brushing his teeth.

"Can we eat at McDonalds? Pleeeeeese?" I ask.

"I don't know. Let me brush my teeth and see if I can get the black off." I stand behind him and poke my head forward to watch him. "Sit down!" He says.

"Can I see if your teeth are whiter?"

"I just started brushing! Put my black bag back and then sit down!"

I fall back down on my seat and sigh. I zip Brian's little black bag up and turn around and lean over the backseat and stuff it back in his bag. When I'm done I stand behind Brian again and try to watch him brush his teeth in the mirror. He still has to drive so he can't look in the mirror to see if his teeth are getting whiter.

"Let me see your teeth," I say. He smiles in the mirror. "They're not as black! They're a dark gray! I think it's working!"

"Put some more toothpaste on," he says as he hands me his toothbrush. "Not a whole lot, I don't want to gag."

I put a little bit on and give it back to him. "Brian, I have to go to the bathroom."

"I know. Just wait, I'm still looking for one."

"I have to go now! I can't wait any longer!" I really do have to go bad now.

"Ok, I'll get off at the next exit." He brushes his teeth while he looks over his shoulder and drives the car over into the next lane. "Sit down Heidi, I can't see."

I sit back down and watch him drive off the freeway. There's a gas station close by and he pulls into it.

"I'm gonna get some gas while you're in the bathroom," he tells me. When he stops the jeep Guthrie sits up.

"Are we in Reno?" He asks. He stretches and yawns.

"No," I tell him. "We're in Sacramento. I have to go to the bathroom."

"So do I," he says and we both get out of the jeep.

* * *

"Brian, can we buy sunflower seeds?" I ask when I run back to the jeep. Brian's filling the jeep up with gas.

"I thought you wanted McDonalds," he says.

"I do, but can we get sunflower seeds too?" I run over to the soap bucket and take the window squeegee out.

"No." He takes the nozzle out and puts it back while I start washing the front window. I have to stand on my tiptoes and even then I still can't reach all the way to the top of the window. Brian walks over and puts his arm around my waist and lifts me up so I'm resting on his hip so I can reach further with the squeegee. Guthrie comes running back from the bathroom.

"Aw, I wanted to do that! Brian, can we get sunflower seeds?" He asks.

"I already asked him and he said no," I tell him as I finish washing the window. Brian sets me down and goes inside to pay. I wash the back window now. That's easier to do. I give Guthrie the squeegee so he can wash the side windows. When Brian comes back I ask him if anyone noticed his teeth were black.

"Yes. I told him I lost a bet." Me and Guthrie laugh.

"Now can we eat at McDonalds?" I ask.

"Ok. The man said there's one two exits up on the freeway."

"Yippee!" I yell. "Can I sit in the front now?"

"Ok," Guthrie says.

I climb up into the front seat and he gets in back. "Brian, can we listen to the radio?" I ask as I turn it on. Brian drives us back onto the freeway.

"Yes, just not too loud. I have to concentrate on driving right now."

"Why?"

"Because I'm looking for a McDonalds. Help me look," he says.

"Ok. There's a Taco Bell," I say. "Gas station, 7-eleven, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger ...,"

"Read to yourself," Brian says.

"There it is," Guthrie says. "It's by that Shell gas station."

"I see it," Brian says. He gets off the freeway and drives over to it. When he pulls into the parking lot I see the drive-thru.

"Brian! Can we go through the drive-thru? Pleeeese?! We never get to." I yell.

"Yeah, can we?" Guthrie asks.

"No. I can't eat _and_ hold my drink at the same time while I'm driving."

"I'll hold your drink for you," I tell him.

"Then how are you gonna eat while you're holding two drinks?" He asks as he pulls into a parking spot.

I think about that, but I can't think of a way to do it. We all get out of the jeep and walk to the door.

* * *

"Hamburger or cheeseburger?" Brian asks us. We both say cheeseburgers. "Cokes?" We both nod our heads.

"Can I order?" Guthrie asks. Brian lets him and both Guthrie and I squeeze in front of Brian so we're both standing in front of the counter. The lady at the cash register asks for our order.

"Two cheeseburgers, three small french fries, one Big Mac, two small cokes and one large coke." Guthrie is smiling really big. Both of us are really excited. We hardly ever get to eat at McDonalds or order the food.

"We want cookies too, please," I tell the lady."

"No," Brian says. "No cookies."

I look up at him. "Pleeeeeese?" I smile real big. "They're shaped like Ronald McDonald's head."

"Ok, one box of cookies," he tells the lady.

"That'll be ten dollars and seventeen cents."

Brian reaches in his pocket to take out his wallet.

"Can I pay? Can I pay?" I yell jumping up and down.

The lady laughs and Brian gives me his wallet. "Your kids are cute," she says.

Guthrie and I laugh. "We're not his kids," Guthrie tells her. "We're his brother and sister." The lady smiles bigger then and looks at Brian and her eyes smile at him too. I look up at Brian and he's smiling at her too. Oh brother!

"Brian doesn't have any kids," I tell the lady. "At least not any that he knows about. He likes to have sex a lot. He...,"

Brian covers my mouth with his hand and says, "just pay the lady." I look at the lady and she's not smiling at Brian anymore. Brian takes his hand away and I open his wallet and find a ten-dollar bill. I give it to her and then I look for the cents. There's a bunch of coins in his wallet but it's hard to see them so I turn his wallet upside down and all the coins fall out onto the counter along with his dollars and one of those little packets he has in his little black bag.

"Hey, you have one of these in your wallet!" I hold it up for the lady to see and Brian grabs it out of my hand. I look at the lady and say, "he has a lot of those in the car. I think he has about ten of them." The lady is kind of glaring now. I'm not really sure why but Brian pushes me out of the way and finishes paying the lady. While she goes to get our food Brian crouches down in front of me. He looks a little mad.

"Heidi, you need to stop talking about sex and babies. It makes people uncomfortable," he says.

"Why?" I ask.

"It just does! Now stop it!"

"When are you gonna tell me what's in that little packet?" I ask him.

"I'm not!"

"I think I know what it is," Guthrie says. He smiles really big and says, "I think it's a ...,"

"Guthrie!" Brian yells. "Don't say it!"

Guthrie laughs. "Now I _know_ it's what I think it is!"

Now I really want to know what it is. I'll ask Guthrie later. The lady is back with our drinks and Brian stands back up. I watch her go get our fries and then the burgers. Then she reaches underneath the counter and gets a box of cookies. She smiles at me as she puts it on our tray.

"Ketchup?" She asks. We all say yes and she puts a handful of packets on our tray. Brian takes the tray with our drinks and Guthrie takes the other tray and I run ahead to find a table.

* * *

"Heidi! Wake up! Heidi! Heidi!"

I groan. Why does Guthrie keep yelling my name! I just want to sleep!

"Heidi! We're in Reno! Wake up!"

I open my eyes and sit up. "Wow!" The buildings are so tall and there's lights all over the place!

"Look Heidi! There's a circus! See that building?! It says Circus Circus on it!" Guthrie yells.

"Can we go to the Circus?" I ask Brian.

"It's not a Circus, it's a hotel," he says.

"What?! It's so tall! Is that our hotel?" I ask.

"No."

"Heidi, all these buildings are hotels!" Guthrie yells.

"Which one are we staying at?!"

"None of these," Brian says.

"Why not?" Guthrie asks.

"They're too expensive."

Brian pulls off the freeway and I look at all the tall buildings as we drive by. "Where's our hotel?"

"I don't know. We're going to the fairgrounds," Brian says.

"Why?"

"Everyone's there because Daniel's band is playing tonight," Brian tells us.

We drive for a while and finally Brian pulls into a huge parking lot. "This is the fairgrounds?" I ask. "It's so big!"

"This is just the parking lot," Guthrie says and he laughs at me.

"I know that! But, look at all the cars! And all the people!" There's tons of people walking all over the place.

"You guys need to stay with me," Brian says. He parks the jeep and we all get out. "I don't want you to get lost."

We walk with Brian and follow all the people walking towards a big gate. We have to wait in line and when we get to the front, Brian pays and we all get our hands stamped.

"It's a horse!" I say as I hold up my hand for Brian to see. He smiles down at me and we walk through the gate.

"Where are we going?" Guthrie asks Brian.

"We're looking for Building C."

"Where's the rodeo?" I ask.

"I don't know. It's almost over for tonight. We'll see it tomorrow."

We're walking by all kinds of booths and tables set up with things people have made and want to sell. They have that at every fair and rodeo, but I've never seen so many before! There's saddles, belts, belt buckles, boots, and a bunch of other rodeo and cowboy stuff.

"Look!" I run over to a table with cowboy hats.

"Wait!" Brian yells. He runs to me and grabs my arm. He spins me around. "Don't run off like that! There's too many people here and I don't want you to get lost. I don't mind looking at stuff but ask first before you run off."

"Ok. Sorry." I grab his hand and pull him towards the table with the hats. I immediately go to the cowgirl hats.

"Look Heidi," Guthrie says. He laughs at me and holds up a pink hat. "Don't you just love it!" He smiles and puts it on his head. I glare at him. I'm not really a fan of pink. My favorite color is purple. I find a tan hat with a purple leather tie around it and it has two horse charms at the end of each tie end!

"Look Brian!" I hold the hat up for him to see. "It has horses on it! Can I buy it? Can I?" I jump up and down a little bit. I know we don't have a lot of money so I'm expecting Brian to say no. But my favorite cowgirl hat got ruined on Halloween so I need a new fancy one for parades and rodeos.

Brian takes it from me and looks at it. He asks a man how much it is and I get excited. He puts it back down on the table and says, "when we find Crane we'll ask him."

I feel a little sad, but it's ok. Besides, maybe Crane will say we have enough money. We walk on to the next booth and Guthrie and I look at belt buckles.

"You two stay right here. I'm going right over there to get a beer." He points to a booth two tables over. "Don't leave this table. Hey! Look at me!" We both look up at him. "Don't leave this table!" We both nod our heads and look at the belt buckles.

"Look at this one!" Guthrie holds up a gold buckle with a bucking horse in the middle and a circle of black gems around it.

"Wow!" We look at more buckles until we've looked at them all. I look over at the beer booth and see Brian there with a beer in his hand talking to two pretty girls also holding beers.

"Oh my gosh Guthrie! Look at Brian! He's already found a girl, and not just one, but two!"

Guthrie looks over and says, "yeah, they're pretty. Do you want to go over there and bug him?"

"Yes!"

"Ok, let's go!"

Guthrie runs over to Brian and I run after him.

"Hi!" Guthrie says to the two girls. I smile up and them and wave. They look down at us and look a little shocked. "Oh, we're not his kids," Guthrie says. "We're his brother and sister."

"Yeah, Brian doesn't have any kids yet," I tell them. "He keeps trying, but...,"

Brian grabs me under my armpit and says bye to the girls as he leads me away. When we're over by an area where nothing is, Brian lets go of me and yells, "what did I tell you?!" He looks really mad.

"Sorry," I say while I look up at him.

"Don't sorry me!" He kneels down in front of me and grabs the sides of my arms hard. "I told you to stop and I'm really getting sick it!"

"Ok, ok! I'll stop! I'm sorry!" He makes me cry because he's yelling loud and squeezing my arms hard as he shakes me a tiny bit.

"You do that again and I'll ...," he stops talking and glares at me and I think I know what he wants to say.

"I'm sorry Brian! I won't do that ever again! I promise!"

"You'd better not!" He lets go of me and stands up. I wipe my eyes and Guthrie and I follow behind Brian.

"Brian, are we close to building C?" Guthrie asks.

"I don't know. I think I'm going the right way."

"Brian can we look at the pocket knives over there?" Guthrie asks pointing to a table.

Brian looks over at it and says, "sure, but just for a little while. I want to go find Adam." I look up at him when he says that and he glares at me a little bit. We follow Guthrie to the knife table and I watch him pick up a knife with a white handle. I look up at Brian and when he sees me looking at him he shakes his head no. I'm not allowed to touch picket knives anymore. I sigh and watch Guthrie pick up another knife. I look over at the booth next to us and see jewelry.

I'm not a big fan of jewelry but it's more interesting to me than pocket knives I can't touch. I walk to the end of the pocket knife table so I can see the jewelry better. I can see horse earrings! I want to go over there so bad! "Brian, can we see the jewelry next?" I ask. I turn around when he doesn't answer and I don't see him.

"Brian?" I look around and I don't see him or Guthrie anywhere. "Brian! Guthrie!" I keep looking around but I can't find them. I'm right here at the knife table, I didn't go anywhere. How could they leave without me? What should I do now? If you're lost in the woods, you're supposed to stay where you're at. I look around at all the people walking by. There's so many of them! Well, I'm not in the woods and I know they're going to Building C, so I guess I should find Building C.

I leave the knife table and walk into the crowd. I'm short so I can't really see where I'm going. I just follow along in the direction the people are going. This isn't going to work because I don't know where all these people are going. I try to get out of the crowd but there's so many people! I finally make my way over to a booth with handmade leather belts and purses.

"Do you know where Building C is?" I ask the person working there.

"No, I'm sorry. Do you need help finding it?"

"No, I'll find it," I tell her. I walk to the next booth and ask the same question. That worker doesn't know where it is either. Neither does the next one or the next one! I'm starting to get worried. How come no one knows where it is? I see a guy that looks like a Sheriff so I walk up to him.

"Do you know where Building C is?" I ask him.

"Building C?" He asks.

"Yes."

"There isn't a Building C," he says.

"What?! There has to be! That's where my family is!" I tell him.

"Are you lost?" He asks.

"No, I told you, I'm looking for Building C."

"What's your name?" He asks.

"Heidi. If there isn't a Building C then what are the other Buildings names?"

"Come with me Heidi. I'll take you to the lost and found booth and we'll find your family." He smiles down at me.

I'm not going with him! "I'm not lost. My brother left me! He's really tall and has dark hair and black teeth."

The Sheriff laughs. "Black teeth? Are you sure about that?"

"Yes!" It looks like he doesn't believe me. "Thanks for your help!" I yell, and I run back into the crowd. I'll find Building C by myself!

* * *

I've been walking forever and I feel scared now. I don't know anybody I see. At home I would know almost everyone at our fairgrounds. I wish I would've let the Sheriff help me. I see a bench so I walk over to it and sit down. Why can't I find Building C? An old man sits down next to me.

"You look tired," he says to me.

I look at him. "So do you." I guess I'll ask him where Building C is. "Do you know where Building C is?"

He thinks for a minute. "No. There isn't a Building C. There isn't an A or B building either. Are you lost?"

"No. I'm just resting," I tell him.

"Where's your mom and dad?" He asks.

"I don't have a mom or dad."

"Everybody has a mom or a dad," the old man says.

I sigh. "My older brother is my dad. My parents died when I was a baby and he raised me."

"Where's your brother?" He asks.

I start to cry. "Building C!"

"Oh." He stands up. "Let me take you to the lost and found. You're never going to find your brother this way."

I stand up and he walks me through the crowd slowly and over to a big booth that says 'Lost and Found'. There are two policemen there. The old man walks me up to them and tells them I'm looking for my brother.

"What's your name?" The policeman with the brown hair asks.

"Heidi."

"What's your last name?"

"McFadden."

He talks on his radio and says some stuff I don't understand except for the word lost and my name. Somebody talks back on his radio and I hear the name Brian.

"That's my brother!" I yell. The policeman smiles at me.

"He's on his way. He's been looking for you. We have another lost and found booth at the other end of the fairgrounds and he's at that one. It's going to take him a little while to get here. Why don't you come sit up here on the counter and have a lollipop while you wait."

The old man smiles at me and says, "I'm glad you found your brother, Heidi. Just make sure you don't lose him again. You might want to hold his hand this time."

I smile at him and nod my head. That sounds like a good thing to do. "Thank you," I tell him and he waves goodbye and walks back into the crowd.

The policeman with the blond hair picks me up and puts me on top of the counter in the booth. He hands me a grape lollipop and I tell him thank you. The policemen talk to me and ask me where I'm from and what grade I'm in all those kinds of questions. They keep talking to me so the time goes by fast because all of a sudden I hear Guthrie yell, "Heidi! We found you!"

I look over and see Guthrie running up to me and Brian running behind him. Brian runs up to me and picks me up. I throw my arms around his neck.

"Are you ok?" He asks. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were with us!"

"I told him you weren't, but he didn't believe me at first," Guthrie says.

I hug Brian really tight and he says, "by the time I realized you weren't with us and we went back to the table, you were gone."

"I was looking for Building C." I lean back and look in Brian's eyes, "except there isn't a Building C."

"I know," he says quietly. "I got the name wrong. We need to go to Building Six."

"How do get a six mixed up with a C?" I ask as I laugh.

"That's what I said!" Guthrie says.

"I don't know, but I know where Building Six is now so let's go!" Brian says thanks to the policemen and so do I and then Brian looks at me and says, "I'm sorry Heidi. I was really worried about you. I'm glad you found the lost and found booth."

I smile at him. "Your teeth are still black!"

"I know." He starts to put me down but I hang on.

"No. Can you carry me a for a little bit? I don't want you to lose me again."

"Sure." He hikes me up higher to get a better hold.

"Brian, is Adam gonna be mad at me?" I ask as he carries me along.

"I think he'll be happy to see you."

"He's gonna be mad at all of us, isn't he?" When Brian doesn't answer I ask, "does he know we skipped school?"

"I haven't talked to him today."

I smile. "So he doesn't have to know!"

"Oh, he's gonna know. I'm gonna tell him."

"Why?! Please don't tell him! Don't you remember when you were our age and you used to skip school?"

"Yes I do, and that doesn't matter right now. You skipped school today and I think you got sent home the rest of the days this week. You have to go to school and you need help remembering that."

"Huh? What does that mean?" I ask him. I don't understand what he's talking about.

"It means, I'm gonna tell Adam."

I sigh when he says that and put my arms back around him and rest my head on his shoulder. When we get to Building Six the first thing we see and hear is Daniel's band.

"There's Daniel!" Guthrie yells and starts to run towards the stage and I try to get down but Brian won't let me and he yells for Guthrie to come back.

"Wait! Let's find the rest of the family first and then you can see Daniel. This is a big building and there's lots of people. I don't want you two getting lost."

Guthrie stays with us and we look around for everybody. Ford is the first to see us. He runs up and hugs Guthrie. "Hi guys! We have a table up by the stage. They let the band members and their families have their own little section." Brian lets me get down and I hug Ford. "Hi Heidi. I missed you."

"I missed you too!"

"Come on," Ford says. He takes my hand and leads us through the people dancing and up towards the stage. There's a lot of people in the building. Lots are dancing in the middle on the dance floor and there's some tables set up all around the edges of the dance floor. There's a few booths set up that look like they have food and drinks to buy. Ford leads us to a roped off section up near the left side of the stage. There's some tables set up and I see Evan and Crane sitting at one. I run up to them and hug Crane.

"Hi!" I yell as I jump up and put my arms around his neck.

"Woah!" He says as he gets knocked back a little. "Hi twerp!" He says as he hugs me back.

"Where's Adam?" I hear Brian ask.

"He's dancing with Hannah," Evan says as I give him a hug now.

I turn around and look at Brian. "You're not gonna tell him _now_, are you?"

"No I'm not gonna tell him _now_. I'm gonna tell him we're _here_." He looks around at the dance floor.

Evan laughs and messes up my hair. "What did you do that you don't want Adam to know about?"

I smile at him and say, "nothing! I didn't do anything!"

"Yeah right!" Both Evan and Crane say as they laugh.

Brian sits down at the table and asks Evan about the rodeo. Evan starts to tell him about something when he stops talking and looks at Brian carefully. "Are your teeth black?!"

Crane looks at Brian's teeth and Guthrie and I laugh. It's hard to see his teeth because it's kind of dark in the building. There are candles on the tables and only some of the lights are on in the building.

"They _are_ black!" Crane yells and starts laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Adam!" Guthrie yells and gives him a hug. I run to him and give him a hug too. Hannah kneels down and smiles at us and we hug her next.

"Hi," she says. I hug her tight. She smells good. Just like I remember. I missed her. "I missed you guys so much!" She says.

"Let's go say hi to Daniel," Guthrie says and he grabs my arm and starts pulling me.

"Just go to the front of the stage and then come right back over here," Brian says and everyone looks at him. "What?" He says. "I don't want them to get lost."

I watch Hannah look up at Adam and they smile at each other. I look at Hannah and whisper, "he already lost me once tonight."

She smiles and says, "he did?" I nod and she says, "I'm glad he found you." I smile at her and let Guthrie pull me away.

We run through the people dancing on the dance floor and get close to the stage.

"Daniel!" We yell. We shout his name more and jump up and down waving at him. He sees us and smiles and moves his eyebrows up and down. That's what he does when he sees someone he knows. We wave and then run back to our family.

I sit on Crane's lap and listen to everyone talk.

"So how did Brian's teeth get black?" Adam asks.

"Brian's trick gum!" Guthrie says. "He was gonna give it to us, but we gave it to him instead!"

Everyone laughs and Adam says, "so that's why you wanted to know how he got me back."

"Thanks for that," Brian says to him.

"Sorry," Adam says. "I figured you had already gotten them back."

"If Brian gives you gum don't take it," I tell everyone and they laugh.

"Let's go dance Heidi," Crane says.

"Ok!" I get up and take his hand and lead him to the dance floor. I love to dance. So do my brothers and Hannah does too. My mom and dad taught my brothers how to dance when they were little. Lots of times when they dance, everyone on the dance floor stops to watch them dance because they're so good. When Crane and I get on the dance floor we have a lot of fun.

We're on our third song when I see Crane looking at someone. I look too and there's a girl watching us. She looks like she's his age and she's smiling at us. Crane smiles and gives her a little wave and she comes over.

She seems a little embarrassed because her cheeks turn a little pink and she says, "I'm sorry for staring, but you two look so cute dancing together. Is she your daughter?"

Crane smiles bigger and says, "no, this is my little sister." Her smile gets bigger when he says that.

I take Crane's hand and lead him closer to the girl and say, "hi! My name's Heidi and this is my big brother, Crane. He's really nice. Do you want to dance with him?"

They both laugh and Crane says, "would you like to dance, um.."

"Rebecca," she says.

"Would you like to dance, Rebecca?" Crane asks again.

"Yes."

"Bye!" I yell to Crane and he leans down and whispers in my ear, "thanks! Go back to the table." I nod and run back to the table.

* * *

"Where's Crane?" Adam asks when I get back.

"He's dancing with Rebecca," I tell him. There's cookies on the table so I take one.

"Who's Rebecca?" He asks.

I shrug my shoulders. " I don't know. Just some girl who likes him." I take a bite of the cookie. "Where's Brian?" I ask as a little cookie crumb falls out of my mouth. I wait for someone to tell me not to talk when my mouth is full, but no one does.

"He's getting something to drink," Guthrie says. "Hannah, will you dance with me?"

"Sure Guthrie," she says. She gives Adam a kiss when she gets up from her chair and walks by him.

"Save a dance for me," Adam says to her. They smile at each other and she says, "always."

It's just me and Adam at the table now. I guess Ford and Evan are dancing too.

"Come here," Adam says. I walk over to him and sit on his lap. He wraps his arms around me and I lean into him. "I missed you," he says.

"I missed you too." We sit quietly like that and watch people dance. "Guess what Adam!" I sit up straighter so I can see his face.

"What?" He asks and he smiles down at me.

"Brian took us to McDonalds tonight! _And_ he let me pay!"

"With your own money?" He asks. I think he's teasing me because he's smiling.

I glare at him. "No. I don't have any money." I smile again and say, "I found a cowgirl hat here! I like it a lot! Can I buy it?! It has horse charms on it and...,"

Adam laughs and says, "let's ask Crane if we can afford it."

"When? Can we buy it tonight? I think I remember where...,"

Adam squeezes me tight and says, "oh, I missed you so much."

I look up at him and say, "me too. I missed you a lot too. Sometimes I even cried because I missed you so much. You were gone for a really long time," I tell him. I'm not smiling anymore.

"I know. I was."

"You were gone too long," I tell him. I feel like crying so I hug Adam tight and he kisses the top of my head.

After a while Adam says, "let's go find Hannah and Guthrie and dance with them." He stands up when I get off his lap and I hold his hand as we walk out to the dance floor.

We find Hannah and Guthrie dancing close to the stage so we join them. They're happy to see us and since it's a fast song I dance with Guthrie and Adam dances with Hannah. The next song is slow so Guthrie and I look at each other and then we look at Adam and Hannah and then back at each other again and roll our eyes. They're kissing while they're dancing.

"Yuck!" We both say and then laugh.

Guthrie looks at me and says, "let's go back to the table 'cause I'm _not_ dancing with you!"

"I'm not dancing with you either!" I tell him and we smile, but Adam and Hannah stop dancing and Adam picks me up to dance with him while Hannah dances with Guthrie. I like dancing with Adam this way. Except I wouldn't say we were dancing, it's more like a big hug while Adam moves us to the music. I feel safe like this and happy.

I listen to the song and when it's over Daniel says, "this last song goes out to my little sister Heidi."

I love it when he does that! The band starts playing my favorite song they sing. Adam puts me down and I smile up at Daniel and give him a little wave. He smiles back and raises his eyebrows. Then I dance with Guthrie again.

When the song is over everyone claps and I hear lots of cheers for Daniel's band. He yells thank you into the microphone and tells everyone there will be a short intermission while the next band gets set up. The four of us go back to the table and sit down. Soon all my brothers start coming to the table to check in. Evan and Ford tell Adam they're going to hang out with their friends from Evan's rodeo class. They're going back to the hotel with them since all the kids from the class are sharing a couple of rooms.

Daniel comes to the table and I run up to him and give him a hug.

"Hey twerp," he says while hugging me back. "I missed you." Everyone tells him his band did a good job.

Brian and Crane come sit down at the table too.

"Where's Rebecca?" I ask Crane.

He smiles at me and says, "she's with her friends."

"Oh," I say sadly. "Sorry."

He smiles real big then and says, "don't worry, me and Brian are meeting them later at the bar by our hotel."

Brian and Crane smile and high-five and Guthrie laughs and gives them each a high-five.

"Make sure you remember to use your good manners with them," Hannah says.

They smile at her and Brian tips his hat and says, "yes mam. I always do."

Adam, Crane and Brian all think that's really funny so they start laughing.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Adam asks. "It's after midnight."

"I'm going back with the band," Daniel says. "We're gonna stay here for a while and have some fun."

"I'm ready," Brian says. "I need to go to the hotel to freshen up."

"That means you're gonna put cologne on," I say and everyone laughs. "You should probably brush your teeth again too." Everyone laughs at that too.

"Let's go," Adam says.

We all get up and start to leave. Brian walks over to me and says, "stick with me kid. I don't want to lose you." I smile up at him and take his hand.

* * *

It's a long walk to the parking lot and when I start dragging behind Brian picks me up and carries me. There are so many people here! When we get to the parking lot Adam and Hannah go find the truck and tell us they'll meet us back at the hotel. Crane comes with us to the jeep.

When Guthrie sees the jeep he yells, "Heidi, get down! I'll race you to the jeep!"

I start to get down but Brian won't let me. "No. This is a big, crowded parking lot. You're not running around in it."

"Is that my big brother acting like a _dad_?" Crane says and laughs.

"I just don't want them to get hurt. There's nothing wrong with that," Brian says.

"I know," Crane says. "I'm just not used to you acting like that. It's nice."

When we're at the jeep Brian sets me down and I get in the back seat with Guthrie. Crane tells Brian how do get to the hotel and it's pretty close to the fairgrounds but it takes a long time to get there because there's a long line of cars trying to get out of the parking lot.

"It's been like this all week," Crane says. "I think everyone from California and Nevada are here!" He turns on the radio and we all sing while we wait in traffic.

When we get to the hotel Guthrie and I are excited. It's only two stories and compared to the tall hotels all around it, ours is small. We don't care, it's still exciting to us.

Brian parks the jeep and Crane leads us to our rooms. He knocks on Adam and Hannah's door, but they're not here yet. We go to the room right next door and Crane opens it. Guthrie and I run in.

"Wow!" I say. "Look! There's a TV!"

Crane laughs and says, "all the rooms have one. It's even in color!"

"Wow!" Guthrie says. We still have a black and white tv. "Can we turn it on?"

"No. Let us get ready," Brian says. "As soon as Adam gets here you're going to go to your room."

I'm still walking around the room looking at everything. "This bucket says 'ice bucket' on it. What's that for?"

"Ice, silly." Crane says.

"Where's the ice?" I ask.

"At the end of the hall."

"Can I get some?"

"Yeah, can we?!" Guthrie asks too.

"Sure."

I grab the bucket and as we start running out the door Brian yells, "hey! Don't run in the hallway!"

"Ok," we say and we walk to the end of the hallway. This is fun! "Look Guthrie! There's a vending machine!"

"Wow! There's two! One for drinks and one for snacks!"

We stare at the snack one. I see so many things I like! There's chips, cookies, gum.

"Here's the ice machine," Guthrie says.

I look over to where he is and we stare at it. "Where's the ice?" I ask.

"I don't know. It says 'put bucket here'. I guess we should do that."

I set the bucket down where the arrow is pointing to and Guthrie pushes a lever down. We both jump when the ice comes out because it's loud.

"Wow! Let's do that again! The bucket isn't full all the way," I say.

Guthrie pushes the lever again and more ice comes out and overflows our bucket. Some falls on the floor.

"Wow! That's a lot of ice! What do we do with the ice on the floor?" I ask.

"You pick it up!"

We both jump when we hear Adams voice.

Hannah says, "it looks like you two are having fun."

"We're getting ice for Crane and Brian," I tell her. They help us pick up the ice on the floor and put it in the bottom of the ice machine.

"Look at the vending machines!" Guthrie yells. "Can we buy something?"

"No. It's really late," Adam says. "It's time for you two to go to bed."

We both groan and follow Adam and Hannah down the hall. I notice Hannah is carrying a small bag. "What's in the bag Hannah?" I ask.

"Oh just something I picked up at the store that might help Brian's teeth get white again."

"There's a store open this late at night?" Guthrie asks and they laugh.

"Lots of places are open past midnight here," Adam says. "We're in a big city."

When we get to Brian and Crane's room we knock and Crane opens the door. I smell the cologne as soon as we walk in. I put their ice on the table and sit down on one of the beds. Hannah takes out a small bottle from the bag she's carrying and shows Brian.

"Guthrie, Heidi, it's time to get ready for bed," Adam says. We jump up off the bed.

"Where's our room!" I shout.

"You don't have your own room. You're sharing one with me and Hannah."

"Why?" Guthrie asks.

"Because we could only afford two rooms. Evan and Ford are staying in a room with the rodeo class so we only got two rooms."

We're still excited. We follow Adam to the room next-door and push by him as soon as he opens the door and turns on the light.

"What?!" I shout. "It's exactly like Crane and Brian's room! How'd they do that?!"

Adam laughs and says, "all the rooms look like this."

"Why?" Guthrie asks.

"They just do. Heidi, you get ready for bed first. You can change in the bathroom. I'm gonna go next door for a minute. I'll be right back."

After he leaves I open my bag and look through it for my pajamas. I dump everything out on the bed because I can't find them. "Oh man! Brian didn't pack any pajamas for me!"

"Go tell Adam," Guthrie says.

"Come with me." We both leave the room and knock on the door of the other room. Adam opens the door.

"Brian didn't pack me any pajamas," I tell him. He looks at both of us and his eyes get big. "Did you shut the door?" He asks.

"Yep!" Guthrie says smiling up at him.

Adam groans and says "the key was in there."

"Sorry," Guthrie says.

"That's ok. Hannah, I'm going to the lobby to get another key. Crane, give one of your shirts to Heidi to sleep in. I'll be back."

Crane digs through his clothes and finds a clean t-shirt for me. He throws it at me and I catch it. I love wearing my brother's shirts for nightgowns. They're huge on me and come down past my knees.

Hannah and Crane are helping Brian with his teeth near the bathroom while Guthrie and I sit on one of the beds and eat ice while we wait for Adam.

When he finally comes back he lets us back into the room and tells us not to leave. Then he goes next door again and I go into the bathroom to change.

When I start to unbutton my jeans I remember the packet I have in my pocket. I open the bathroom door and walk over to Guthrie who's sitting on the bed looking at a rodeo magazine.

"Look," he says while holding it up for me to see. "It's about the rodeo."

I hold up the packet and ask, "what's this?"

Guthrie's eyes get big and he says, "where'd you get that?"

"Brian had them in his bag. What is it?"

"Heidi, you're not supposed to have that. I'm pretty sure I know what it is, but I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"I just can't."

"I'm gonna open it."

Guthrie stands up and watches me open it. Inside is a round thing made out of balloon material. "What is it?" I ask.

Guthrie doesn't say anything. He watches me open it up. I kind of have to roll it out until it's a long balloon. "It looks like a balloon," I say.

"It looks like one of those balloons a clown has that they make balloon animals out of," Guthrie says.

"Yeah it does, except this one's wider!" I try to blow it up but the opening is too big. "Maybe we could fill it with water like a water balloon," I suggest. We walk into the bathroom and I try to put it on the faucet but the opening is too big for that too. This is the weirdest balloon thing I've ever seen. I turn the faucet on and hold the balloon under the water so it fills up with water.

The door to our room opens and we both freeze. Guthrie whispers, "hide it!" But there's no time to.

"I thought I told you to get ready for bed!" Adam yells. We stare up at him and he looks down at the balloon I'm holding. I let it go and all the water spills out of it and it lays in the sink. I watch Adam's eyes get big and then mad. "Where did you get that?!"

I stare at him for a long time before I say, "Brian. I was looking ...," but that's all I get to say because Adam yells, "Brian!" He storms out of our room.

"Wait!" Both Guthrie and I yell, but it's too late. We can hear Adam pounding on the door of the room next door.


	13. Chapter 13

Adam is pounding on the door to Crane and Brian's room and I yell at Guthrie, "what do I do?!"

"I don't know! Adam's really mad!"

We run out into the hallway just as Adam goes into their room and slams the door shut. We can hear lots of yelling and I start to cry. I pound on the door to their room and yell, "Adam! Adam! He doesn't know I took it! Adam!"

The door opens and Hannah pushes me back as she comes out of the room and closes the door behind her. She takes mine and Guthrie's hand and leads us to our room, but we can't get in because the door is locked. She kneels down and hugs me and tells me everything is going to be alright.

"No it's not! Adam is mad at Brian because of me!"

"Sh," she says.

"Do you want me to see if Adam has the second key?" Guthrie asks.

"No. Let's just let them talk."

"But they're not talking! They're yelling!" I yell.

"I know. Just give them some time."

I hug Hannah and we can hear lots of yelling. I hear Brian yell, "then you shouldn't have made me stay home with them!" That makes me cry harder.

"Come on," Hannah says. "Let's go wait by the vending machines. There's some stairs over there we can sit on." She takes my hand and leads me down the hallway to the stairs. She sits down on the second step and puts me in her lap. Guthrie sits down next to us.

"How long do you think they're going to fight for?" He asks.

"Not for long, Crane is in there and he'll help."

We sit here quietly for a long time. I'm done crying now and I'm pretty tired. I just want to go to bed. I hear voices in the hallway and Guthrie stands up to see who it is.

"It's Brian and Crane," he tells us.

We all get up and walk into the hall. When I see Brian I tell him I'm sorry. He ignores me and that makes me start crying again so Hannah hugs me.

"Where are you guys going?" Guthrie asks.

"To the bar," Brian says. "Don't wait up!"

Guthrie and Hannah say bye to them and Hannah leads us back to our room. Adam is in the hallway walking towards us.

"We got locked out," Hannah tells him.

"I figured." He looks down at us and says, "bedtime."

"I'm sorry Adam," I say.

"I know you are, but I don't want to talk about it tonight. It's way past your bedtime and you both look really tired. I'm really tired."

He unlocks the door to our room and tells me to get ready for bed. I look for the balloon when I'm in the bathroom, but I don't see it anywhere. Not even in the trash can. When I come out Adam tells me which bed to get in. I'm going to sleep with Hannah. I get in bed and pull the covers over me and stare up at the ceiling. I'm tired from crying so I close my eyes and fall asleep.

* * *

It's pitch black when I wake up. "It's dark!" I yell. "Adam, I'm scared!" Why isn't my little pink lamp on?

I hear Adam say, "I'm coming!" It sounds like he's right next to me. A light turns on next to me and I see the hotel room. Adam sits on my bed next to me. "I'm sorry. I forgot about the light," he says as he rubs my arm. "I'll leave the light on, go back to sleep." He gets up and goes back to his bed.

I'm not tired now. I sit up and look around. Hannah's asleep next to me and Guthrie's asleep in Adam's bed. I look at Adam and he's looking at me.

"Lay down," he says.

"I'm not tired."

"Lay down, close your eyes, and you'll fall back asleep."

"No I won't, I'm not tired anymore," I tell him.

"Well I am. Lay down and go to sleep."

I fall back on the bed and sigh. I stare up at the ceiling and think about the balloon thing. "Adam, what was that balloon thing for?"

He groans. "Go to sleep."

"What is it?"

"Go to sleep," he says a little louder.

"Why won't anyone tell me what it is?"

Adam groans again and puts his pillow over his head.

"It must be something pretty important by the way everyone's acting about it," I say.

Adam takes the pillow off his head and says, "stop talking and go to sleep! I don't want to have to tell you again!"

"But I can't sleep. I'm not tired and all I can think about is that balloon."

Adam sits up and looks around for something. He gets up and picks up the rodeo magazine Guthrie was looking at earlier. He brings it to me and I sit up. "Look at this! If I hear another word out of you I'm going to throw you out in the hallway to sleep!"

"Ha! You can't do that! That's...," I stop talking because the look on his face tells me to. "Ok, I'll stop talking." I open the magazine and pretend to look at it while I peek over at Adam to see if he's asleep. He's not. He's looking right at me so I put my eyes back on the page. I see a cowgirl hat I really like. "Look Adam! It's a...,"

"What did I tell you?! I don't want you to wake up Guthrie or Hannah!"

"Oh yeah, sorry. It's just, look at this hat," I hold the magazine up at him so he can see, "isn't it perfect for rodeos?"

I look at him when he doesn't answer me and he's glaring at me. I put the magazine back down and turn the page. There's a picture of a horse that looks just like Lucy! I hold the magazine up again and say, "look! It's Lucy!"

Adam sits up really fast and before I know it he grabs the magazine out of my hands and throws it across the room.

"Hey! I was looking at...,"

He opens up the drawer of the nightstand in between our beds and takes out a book. It's the Bible. "Read this!" He says as he shoves it into my hands.

"But I don't want to. It's boring, and there aren't any pictures," I tell him.

"If you don't shut up and read that bible I'm gonna...,"

"Ok, I know, you're gonna throw me out in the hallway. I'll read it!"

"That's _not_ what I was gonna say! Do you understand me?!"

I look at him and I do understand so I open up the bible and start to read it.

* * *

This book is so boring! There aren't any pictures, the words are too hard for me to understand, and the words are too tiny to see. I stare at the page and think about that balloon thing. I really want to know what it is. I wonder why Guthrie wouldn't tell me. Maybe he doesn't really know what it is either. I guess I should ask someone else. I can't ask Crane. If Brian won't tell me what it is, I know Crane won't. That just leaves Ford, Evan and Daniel. Daniel is sharing a room with Crane and Brian so that just leaves Evan and Ford. Since I'm not tired I might as well go ask them now. I look over at Adam to see if he's asleep.

"Adam," I whisper. "Adam!" I whisper a little louder. He's asleep so I get up out of bed and tiptoe to the door. I open it very carefully and go out into the hallway. I shut the door behind me quietly and look around. It's so quiet! It looks a little scary now because it's such a long hallway and all the doors look the same. One of the lights in the middle of the hallway is flickering. I turn to go back into my room but the door is locked! I forgot about that! I also don't know what room Evan and Ford are in. I didn't really think this plan through.

I bet there's a person awake at the front desk where you first walk into the hotel. Now I just have to find it. I walk to the end of the hallway and see a sign that says 'lobby' with an arrow pointing straight ahead. That's where the desk must be. There's another sign that says 'pool'. I didn't know there was a pool here. I'll have to check that out after I find Evan and Ford. I follow the sign to the lobby.

When I find the lobby there's a man sitting behind the desk. He looks old, like maybe he's thirty. He sees me and I walk over to him.

"How can I help you?" He asks. "You look a little young to be out this late at night by yourself. You're also supposed to be wearing shoes." I look down at my bare feet.

"I need to know what room my brother is in," I tell him.

"Why don't you ask your mom or dad?"

I stare at him. "They forgot it too, so they sent me down here to ask you."

I don't think he believes me because that's what the look on his face tells me. "Why didn't they just _call_ me to ask?"

I sigh. "I don't know." I think for a minute before I say, "I think they wanted some _privacy_."

The man smiles a little bit and says, "what's your brother's name?"

"Evan and Ford McFadden."

He looks in his book for a while before saying, "there aren't any rooms listed with those names. It's probably listed under your dad's name."

"No, they're here with their rodeo class. Just look that up."

The man looks at me and he looks a little frustrated. "_Everyone_ here is with their rodeo class."

"Oh. Then look for Cooper Johnson's name. That's my brother's teacher. He's always saying his name around the house. Sometimes he says good things about him and sometimes I hear him swear about him. He doesn't swear in front of me though, he just doesn't know I'm listening sometimes."

The man smiles and looks in his book. "Cooper Johnson, Rooms 212 and 214."

"Thank you!" I smile really big at him.

"Just go up those stairs over there," he says and he points to a staircase. I run over to them and run up as fast as I can.

When I get to the top I'm in another hallway that looks exactly the one my room is on! This could be really confusing! I walk down the hallway looking for Room 212. I look at each door. 200, 202, 204, 206, I wonder how come they're skipping numbers? Where's 201 and 203? This is strange. I finally find Room 212. I knock on the door and wait for someone to open it. When no one does, I knock again. Still no answer. I try Room 214. No one answers that door either.

"Ford? Evan?" I call out. When no one comes to the door I feel a little sad. I guess they're not back yet. Or maybe they can't hear me. I knock a little louder, but still get no answer. The door next to this one opens and a tired lady comes out and says, "be quiet! People are trying to sleep!"

"Sorry," I tell her as she slams her door shut. I guess I'll have to go back to my room. I walk down to the end of the hallway and go downstairs. When I get to the bottom I see the ice machine and only one vending machine. That's weird. I wonder what happened to the drink machine. It also seems like the machines are at the wrong end of the hallway. I walk down the hallway and realize I don't know what my room number is! I did 'not' think this through!

I know our rooms are close to the end so I run down there. Which ones are they? This is too confusing! Why does everything have to look the same! I knock on a door I think is ours. "Adam?" I wait a minute and when it opens a stranger is there.

"What?!"

"Sorry, wrong room," I tell him. I move on to the next room. The next two rooms I knock on no one answers.

"Adam?" I call out hoping he'll hear me. "Adam!" I yell a little louder.

A door opens up and I run to it. "Adam!" I yell and I stop when I see it's not Adam.

"Go to your room!" A man yells. "Stop yelling in the hallway!" He goes back in his room and shuts the door. I start to cry and two more doors open up. I look and none of the people that come out are my family. I run down the hallway to the stairs and run back upstairs. I look for Evan and Ford's room and knock on the door again. When no one opens it I sit on the floor and lean against their door and cry.

* * *

I'm leaning against the door with my knees tucked to my chest and my nightshirt pulled all the way over them down to my feet. Crane's shirt is really big on me and I'm glad because I'm cold. My hands are covering my face and resting on my knees. I don't know why they're not back yet! I guess I should go ask the man in the lobby where my room is. I'll give Evan and Ford five more minutes to come back.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP HERE?!" I hear Adam yell.

Adam! I look over at the stairs and see him coming. I'm so happy. I stand up and start to run towards him. Uh-oh, he looks really mad. I stop and think about what to do. I'd better run! I look down at the other end of the hall and then I look back at Adam.

"Don't you run from me!" He yells.

I take off down the hallway. He's not chasing me and I figure out why when I get to the end of the hallway. There aren't any stairs on this side, instead there are two rooms at the end. I turn around and back up so my back is against the wall in between the two doors.

"I'm sorry!" I cry. "Please don't be mad at me!"

A few doors open up in the hallway and some people look out at us standing in the hallway in our pajamas.

"Get over here!" He yells, except not as loud as earlier. I don't think he wants to wake anybody else up. "Come here!" He says again.

I stare at him. "Why?" I ask quietly. Adam's eyes get madder. I guess I shouldn't have said that. Adam moves closer to me and out of the corner of my eye I see Ford's head pop out of his room way down near the other end of the hallway. "Ford!" I yell and I run towards him. Adam grabs me as I try to run by him and spins me around.

"Walk with me!" He yells. He grabs me under my armpit and walks me down the hall. When we get to Ford, Evan is standing out in the hallway now too.

"What's going on Adam?"

"Help me!" I yell as I start dragging my feet and try to run to them. Adam stops walking and picks me up.

"Quit being so dramatic!" He yells as he carries me to the stairs.

"No! I'm afraid of you right now!"

He stops and grabs my face with his hand so I have to look at him. "We've been looking all over for you!" He yells.

I look at him with tears in my eyes as he looks at me and I can see his eyes get less madder. "_Where_?" I ask him quietly. It's hard to say that though with him holding my face. Where were they looking? There's an upstairs and a downstairs.

He looks madder again but lets go of my face. "All four hallways, the lobby, the pool and the parking lot!"

"There are _four_ hallways?" I ask. No wonder why I couldn't find our room. "I didn't know that."

"That's why you shouldn't wander off like that!" He starts walking down the stairs. "What were thinking?!"

"I wanted to ask Evan and Ford a question."

"What?! What question was so important that you had to sneak out of the room and get lost in the motel?!"

We're in the lobby now and I see Crane, Daniel and Brian coming in from outside. Everyone's in their pajamas. "Where were you?!" They all yell.

"She was up at Evan and Ford's room!" Adam tells them. They follow us into our hallway.

"You shouldn't leave like that!" Brian yells. "We were worried about you!"

"Sorry." I say quietly. They all say goodnight to Adam and shake their heads as they go into their room and shut the door.

Adam stops outside our door. He's still carrying me and he says, "look at me!" I look at him and he says, "tell me why you were up there."

I stare at him. No way am I going to tell him that!

"You'd better start talking or I'm gonna start..,"

"I wanted to ask them a question."

"What question?!"

I stare at him again.

"I'm warning you." He's not yelling now just talking in his real serious voice.

"I wanted to know what the balloon thing was."

Adam looks at me and sighs. He looks disappointed. "Dang it Heidi! There's a reason why I don't want you to know what it is. You and me are going to have a serious discussion about the balloon thing and all this other sex stuff you've been talking about."

"The balloon thing has to do with sex?" I ask.

Adam looks tired now and doesn't answer that. "We're going to go inside now and you are going to stay in your bed until I tell you you can get up. Do you understand me?"

I nod. "What if I have to go to the bathroom?"

"Don't test me!" He yells and stares at me.

I nod my head slowly and he opens the door. I can tell Guthrie's still asleep, but Hannah's up and she rushes over to us and says, "what happened Heidi?" She rubs my back. "Where were you?"

"She was up at Evan and Ford's room," Adam tells her as he puts me on the bed.

"What? Why?"

I get under the covers and Adam says to Hannah, "don't ask." She gives him a big hug and I watch him relax. He looks over at me and says, "do you know how worried we were?"

Hannah takes her hand and puts it on Adam's cheek and moves his face back so he's looking at her. "She's safe now. Go back to bed and get some rest."

I watch her hug him again and I can see him calm down. She always seems to do that for him. Maybe he won't be as mad now. I sigh and stare at them. I'm not tired at all now. They start kissing and I accidentally say, "yuck!" They both look at me and I say, "are you gonna take her shirt off now? That's what Brian would do." They both look at me and they look shocked. I put the covers over my head.

"We're gonna talk about that tomorrow too!" Adam says.

I uncover my head and say, "are you gonna talk to Brian about that? Because he...,"

"Be quiet and go to sleep!" Adam says.

"I'm not tired!" I sit up. "Can we..,"

"Goddammit Heidi! I swear if..,"

"Adam," Hannah says calmly, "calm down. Go back to bed and I'll read the rodeo magazine to Heidi."

Adam kisses her and gets back in bed and Hannah picks up the magazine and gets in bed with me. We sit up and I tell her I just want to look at the pictures.

"Doesn't that horse look like Lucy?" I ask her.

"Mmhm," she says. She sounds tired so I turn the pages now.

"Look at this saddle Hannah."

She doesn't say anything so I look at her and she's asleep. I sigh and look at the clock. 4:00 and I'm not tired at all.

"Guthrie," I whisper. "Guthrie." He can't hear me. I put the magazine on the nightstand and look over at the TV. I wonder if I could watch it. I scoot to the end of the bed and look over at Adam. He's facing the other way. I know I'm supposed to stay on the bed, but maybe I can turn it on really fast and jump back on the bed. I look at the TV for the on/off button but I don't see it. I'm gonna have to get up. I look back over at Adam and sigh. I crawl back up to the top of the bed and try to wake up Hannah.

"Hannah," I whisper and I shake her gently. She opens her eyes. "Can I watch tv?"

"No. Lay down and go to sleep." She closes her eyes again and I lay down. I stare at the ceiling and then the pictures on the wall and then I look at the clock. 4:15. I look at the clock closer. It looks like it's a radio. I sit up and pull it closer to me. It _is_ a radio! I wonder how it turns on. I don't see a button that says radio so I pick up the clock and look at it. There's a sliding button on the side and I think it says radio so I slide it over and the clock starts beeping really loud! I slide the switch back but it doesn't turn off!

Everyone is awake and I start to put the clock back down but Adam grabs it out of my hands. He can't turn it off either.

"Make it stop!" Guthrie yells.

Adam keeps trying but it won't stop beeping so he reaches behind the nightstand and pulls the plug out of the wall. It's quiet now and Adam sits down on his bed and scratches his head.

"Thank you!" Guthrie yells.

"What happened?" Adam asks me. He sounds really tired.

I stare at him and shrug my shoulders.

"Have you slept at all?"

"No. I'm not tired. Can I watch tv?"

"No, you're supposed to be sleeping. Please lay down and stop playing around with stuff. I'm tired and we have a busy day tomorrow. We're going to have to get up in a few hours and you need some sleep. Lay down, close your eyes and stay still. You'll be asleep before you know it."

"I tried that and it didn't work."

"Try again."

"Maybe I can't sleep because you didn't tuck me in tonight."

"Come here," he says.

I stare at him. "Why?"

He gets up and comes over and picks me up. "You know, I really don't like it when you say that to me. When I say come here you say ok, and then you come." He carries me to his bed and lays me down and then he lays next to me on his side. "Close your eyes." He puts his arm around me. I look up at him and he says, "close them." I close my eyes and start to ask if he's gonna sing a song. "Sh, don't talk." He does sing really quietly so I have to listen really closely. He sings for a while and I start to feel tired. When he's done singing he starts to talk a little bit. I think he thinks I'm asleep.

"I missed you this week. Sometimes you make me want to pull all my hair out, kind of like tonight, but I still love you so much." I feel him smooth my hair back. I feel really tired now. "I missed the crazy things you say and the funny things you do."

"Adam," I say quietly and then I yawn.

"Sh," he says.

"I dug a grave today."

"What? You dug a grave at school?"

"No. Brian didn't take us to school." I yawn again. "He made us dig holes today. We dug a grave."

"What do you mean?"

I'm too tired to talk now and the last thing I hear him say before I go to sleep is, "Heidi, what are you talking about?"

* * *

"Heidi, wake up," Hannah says quietly as she rubs my back. "Wake up, I brought you back something to eat."

I stretch and groan and settle back down again. I haven't opened my eyes yet and I don't plan on it. I am so tired, but Hannah keeps talking.

"You need to get up now. Remember, we've got the rodeo to go to today." She keeps rubbing my back which is better than shaking me. "Heidi, come on, sit up."

"No. Go away!" I turn away from her and put the covers over my head. Hannah pulls them back and pulls me so I'm sitting up with my eyes closed.

"Come on," she says as she pats my back now instead of rubbing it. She's not talking quietly anymore either. "Open your eyes, you've got to wake up because we're leaving for the fairgrounds soon."

I open my eyes and look around. "Where's Guthrie and Adam?"

"In the lobby eating breakfast." Hannah gets up and picks my bag up off the floor and puts it on the bed. She starts going through it and pulling out clothes.

"There isn't a restaurant in the lobby."

"No. They have a continental breakfast. That means they put out muffins and cereal and fruit for us to eat. Look, I brought you a blueberry muffin, some milk and a banana."

I look at the table and see my breakfast. "Thanks." I fall backwards on the bed and close my eyes.

"No," Hannah says as she pulls me back up. The door opens and Guthrie comes running in and he's excited.

"Heidi! They have all kinds of breakfast stuff in the lobby! Well, not anymore because they put it away, but they had lots of stuff! And guess what?! They have a game machine in the lobby! You put a quarter in and you can win lots of money!"

I glare at him. Why does he have to be so happy, it's making me mad!

He laughs at me and says, "you look grumpy!"

I throw a pillow at him and Hannah says, "hey! Heidi get up! Guthrie, where's Adam?"

"He's waiting for us in the lobby. Come on Heidi! Everyone's ready to go!"

"Go wait in the lobby Guthrie. Tell them we'll be there in five minutes," Hannah says.

Guthrie leaves and Hannah puts my clothes on the bed. "Get dressed. I'm going to finish getting ready." She gets her make-up bag and takes it into the bathroom. That reminds me of what I did to her lipstick and perfume. I groan and fall back on the bed.

"Are you getting dressed?" Hannah asks. I don't answer her, I just lay on the bed. "Heidi?"

"I'm up!" I tell her. I sit up and take Crane's shirt off and put on the shirt Hannah laid out for me. I put my jeans on, my socks and boots. Hannah comes back in.

"Good, I'm glad you're up and dressed. Use the bathroom and then we'll take your breakfast with us."

* * *

"It's about time!" Crane says when he sees Hannah and me walk into the lobby. He smiles at me and picks me up. "You look tired." I groan and put my arms around his neck. I'm holding my banana in one hand and I rest my head on his shoulder. Everyone talks about who's going in which car and what we're gonna do when we get there.

Brian and Crane are taking the truck so Crane puts me down. Me and Guthrie are going with Adam and Hannah in the jeep. Daniel's gonna go later with his band and Evan and Ford are already there. We're gonna watch Evan later today when he gets to do something in the rodeo. I don't think he's competing in anything, I think he just gets to see what it's like behind the scenes at a professional rodeo.

The ride to the fairgrounds is long. Our hotel is close to it but there's so much traffic! I lean against the side of the jeep and close my eyes. They don't get to stay closed for long though because it seems like as soon as I close them, Adam is telling me to open them. At least I feel a little less tired when I get out of the jeep.

"Come on Heidi, let's race to the gate!" Guthrie starts to take off but both Adam and Hannah call him back.

"No! You guys are staying with us," Adam says. "We're staying together so no one gets lost."

Guthrie laughs. "You mean like how Brian lost Heidi yesterday?"

"How exactly did he do that?" Hannah asks.

"He just left her at the pocketknife table. I told him she wasn't with us, but he didn't believe me."

"Well, we won't leave you anywhere today," Hannah tells me. She smiles at me and I smile back.

There's a big line at the gate. It's not really a line, it's more of a big group moving slowly towards the gate. Very slowly. I lean against Adam and he picks me up.

"What were you talking about last night when you said you dug a grave yesterday?" He asks.

I stare at him. Did I say that? I think I did.

"Heidi?"

"When did I say that?"

"Last night before you fell asleep," he says.

I look down at Guthrie and he looks at me and puts his finger up to his lips to say sh. I look back at Adam and I don't know what to say so I don't say anything.

"You said Brian didn't take you to school," he says.

I groan. "I said that?"

"Yes. What does that mean?" We're getting closer to the gate but not close enough for Adam to stop asking questions. I don't answer him. "Heidi?" He's talking in his serious voice and looking at me with serious eyes. "Since you're not answering I'll take it something happened at school yesterday?"

I can answer that question honestly. "No." He looks at me like he doesn't believe me. I smile at him. "I'm telling you the truth. Nothing happened at school yesterday."

"She's right," Guthrie says and Guthrie's smiling too.

"Why do I get the feeling you guys aren't telling me the whole story?"

"There's no story," I tell him. "You can even ask Brian. He'll tell you nothing happened at school too."

"I am going to ask him. I sure hope you're telling me the truth."

I laugh. "I am!"

"Look we're almost at the gate!" Guthrie yells. Adam puts me down to get our tickets out. He hands one to each of us and I give mine to the lady and she stamps my hand.

"Look! It's a cowgirl boot!" I hold it up for Adam and Hannah to see and they smile.

"It's a cow _boy_ stamp," Guthrie says, showing me his.

"Not mine!"

"Heidi, they're both the same stamp!" Guthrie yells and he laughs. We follow Adam inside and I stop and look at where we are.

"Whoa!" I look at everything. This rodeo arena is huge! Adam picks me up again because I'm stopping traffic. "Look at this place!"

"Wait 'till you see the competitions," Adam says. "These guys are good!" He takes us up the bleachers and we find a place to sit near the aisle.

I look all around. The bleachers go up so high. "Can we sit up there?!" I ask pointing way up high.

"No, we're sitting here."

"Look at all the people!" I stand up and look around. "When's the rodeo going to start?"

"It already started Heidi," Guthrie says, "look, see that guy on the horse down there?" Guthrie's pointing somewhere, but it's hard for me to pay attention because there's so many things to look at.

"Where's Evan?" I ask. I'm looking all around for him, but I don't see him anywhere.

"He's way down there somewhere," Guthrie says, but where he's pointing I don't see Evan at all.

"Can we go down there?"

"I don't know, ask Adam," Guthrie says.

"Adam, can we go down there where Evan is?"

"No, there's too many people down there."

"But we'd be with Evan," I tell him. "And Ford. Pleeeeese?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Just no. Stop asking."

I was going to ask again but the announcer starts talking and it startles me. He announces the cowgirl barrel racing competition and I get excited. Someday I'm going to do that in a big rodeo like this. I race with Lucy in rodeos and usually I come in first place but, Lucy's not old enough yet to start training for real. She's almost five so when she's older I'm gonna ride her in big rodeos and win lots of money. I stand up so I can see better and watch the first girl.

"Wow! She's fast!" I can't believe it.

"See, I told you these guys would be good," Adam says.

"You mean girls." I'm standing up next to him and he puts his arm around my waist and scoots me close to him so I can hear him talk. We watch the girls and he points out the good things they do and the bad things. He knows I want to do this when I'm older.

"Oh no, her horse is down!"

"Watch, she's gonna get her horse right back up and finish the race," he tells me and he's right. When me or one of my friend's horses goes down usually we're done racing because our parents rush out to see if we're ok, but it doesn't happen often 'cause our horses aren't going super fast like they are here.

We watch the competition together like that and I clap and yell for every girl. When the girl's competition is over I'm excited and I tell Hannah all about how I'm gonna be a barrel racer when I grow up.

"Hey, here comes Brian and Crane!" Guthrie yells. Both of us start yelling their names and jumping up and down waving our arms until they finally see us and come over.

"Did you see the barrel racing?!" I ask.

"Yes," Crane says as he sits down and I move over to him. "And yes, I know you're going to do that someday!" He smiles at me and messes up my hair on the top of my head with his hand. Brian moves past us and sits on the other side of Adam. Crane says, "I bet you had fun watching that."

I nod my head and hear the announcer talking again but I'm not listening because I'm looking down below near the fence of the arena and I see the cowgirl standing there that just won.

"Look! There she is!" I yell while pointing down. "Look!" Everyone looks where I'm pointing. I start to move fast to the end of the bleachers so I can go down there and say hi.

"Whoa!" Crane yells as he wraps his arm around my waist to stop me. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Down there. I'm gonna go say hi to the cowgirl down there." I move over to Adam. "Can I? Pleeeeeese?!"

"Heidi that's too far away. You can't go down there by yourself," Adam says.

I make my way over to Guthrie and grab his arm and start pulling him towards the aisle. "Guthrie will go with me."

Guthrie tries to pull away. "Stop! I want to see the next competition!"

"Whoa!" Adam yells. "Stop!" I stop and turn around to look at him. "You're not going down there without an adult."

I smile and look at Brian and then Adam and then Crane and then Hannah. They all laugh, except for Brian.

"I'll take her," Brian says.

That surprises me. "You will?" I think for a minute while he stares at me. I glare at him and say, "you're not going down there with me because you want to ask her out, are you?" Everyone except for Brian laughs.

"No. I want to talk to you too," he says.

"Oh. But can we talk to her first?" I ask.

"Yes. Come on." Brian stands up and asks everyone else, "are you gonna be here for a while?"

"Why don't we meet at the food court near building six in about an hour," Adam says.

Brian follows me to the stairs and we make our way down them to where some of the cowgirls are. It's a long way down because this place is huge. When we get to the bottom I take Brian's hand and lead him to the girls. They've got their backs towards us because they're leaning on the fence watching some guy ride a bull. We walk up to them.

"Hi!" I yell. All three of them turn around and look at us. They smile and I say, "I'm Heidi and this is my brother Brian."

"Nice to meet you," the girl in the middle says. They tell us what their names are.

"I watched you race and you're really good! I'm gonna race like you someday! You know, in a big rodeo like this!"

They smile and the girl on the end says, "good for you. Do you race now?"

"Yes. I'm pretty good and my horse Lucy is almost five."

"That's a good age to start training your horse." I walk towards her and stand next to her and both of us face the arena. I climb up the fence just a little bit so we can talk.

"When did you start racing?" I ask her. I ask her lots of questions and she doesn't seem to mind. She tells me lots of things. I look down at Brian. He's at the other end talking to the other two girls. I keep talking to Nancy and she keeps talking back. After a while though, she says, "Heidi, I've got to go check on my horse, Star."

I must've looked sad when she said that because she says, "maybe later today I can take you back where all the horses are kept and give you a tour."

That makes me smile real big! "Yes! I would love that!"

"Great. Come to building two at two o'clock. All of us girls will be there signing autographs and I can give you the tour after that."

"Thank you!" I yell and I jump down from the fence and put my arms around her waist and hug her.

She laughs. "Ok. Just remember, building two at two." I laugh at that and then her two friends say goodbye to Brian and they walk back to wherever their horses are.

"What were you two talking about?" He asks me.

"Nancy was telling me all about barrel racing!"

"Good."

"What were you and the other girls talking about?" I ask.

"Just rodeo stuff," he says.

"Did you ask one of them out?" I ask as I put my hands on my hips.

He smiles down at me. "Maybe."

I laugh. "You did, didn't you!"

"Come on, let's go find someplace where we can talk," he says as he takes my hand and leads me out of the arena area.

"Talk, or yell?" I ask.

"Talk."

I follow him wondering what he wants to talk about and hoping he really isn't going to yell at me.

* * *

We walk around until Brian finds a place that's out of the way, and where there aren't that many people around. It's where a bunch of hay bales are stacked up. They're stacked three and four bales high so Brian takes a bale down from a stack of three and sets it in front of that stack so it's like steps. So we've got one bale high, then two bales high behind that, and a stack of three behind that. I laugh and climb up it and then back down.

"You made stairs!" I yell while running up again. He sits on the second step and tells me to sit next to him. I sit down and we sit quietly. I'm not sure what Brian wants to talk about but I know what I want to say to him.

"Brian, I'm sorry I took that balloon thing out of your bag." He doesn't say anything. "Brian?" I look up at his face. He looks like he's thinking about something. "Brian are you mad at me?"

He looks down at my face and says, "no. I was disappointed when I found out you took it."

"I'm sorry Adam yelled at you."

"That's ok, I deserved it. Not because you took the condom, but because of how I acted around you this week."

"The what? The condom? What's that?"

Brian groans and covers his face with his hands. He doesn't answer me so I start pulling pieces of hay out of the bale we're sitting on. "What's wrong Brian?" He doesn't answer so I look around for something else to do instead of pulling out hay, but I can't find anything so I go back to pulling out hay. "Brian, what's wrong? I thought you wanted to talk to me."

He sighs and says, "I do. Heidi, I shouldn't have brought those girls home."

"Why? Didn't you like them?"

"No, well, yes I did like them, but that's not what I want to talk about. I shouldn't have brought them home and had them spend the night. Now you have all these questions about sex and you're too young to understand all the answers."

"So you're going to answer my questions?" I look up at him and smile.

"No. Adam and Hannah are going to talk to you about your questions."

"Oh. That means they're just gonna say I'm too young to understand." I'm not smiling anymore. "Brian, how come you don't have girls spend the night when everyone's at home? How come you don't bring girls home for dinner when we're all home? Don't you like them?"

"I guess I just haven't found a girl I like enough to bring home to dinner. You know how chaotic things can be around our house. If I brought a girl home she'd probably never want to go out with me again."

"Is that why Adam never brought Hannah home?"

Brian laughs at that and says, "probably. Do you remember the day he brought her home? Do remember the look on her face when she found out we all lived at home with Adam?"

I laugh. "Yeah, that was funny." I stand up next to Brian and step down so I can stand in front of him and hold his hands and look into his eyes. "Brian, I think you should go out with the kind of girls that want to come home with you to meet us. Girls like Laura. Not girls like Karen or that other girl you brought home. Karen didn't really want to talk to me or Guthrie, all she wanted to do was kiss you and have sex with you."

Brian's eyes smile as he keeps looking at me.

"You should look for girls that want to do other things with you besides just kiss and have sex," I tell him.

He laughs and says, "who told you that?"

I shrug my shoulders. "No one. You just seemed happier with Laura. I mean, you were happy with those other girls, but I think it's just because you knew you were going to get lucky. It looked like a different kind of happy."

"You know, for a ten year old you're pretty smart," he says as he lets go of my hands and picks me up and puts me on his lap. He hugs me close to him.

"I know, I've always been smart. You probably just never listened to me before."

"Is that so?!" He starts to tickle me now until I laugh and can't take it anymore.

"Uncle!" I yell and he stops and hugs me again. "Brian, are you going on a date with a cowgirl tonight?" I lift my head up to look at his eyes but all I can see is his chin. "You're not answering me!" I tickle him now.

"Ok! Ok! Uncle," he says. "Yes, we're meeting up later tonight."

"Are you gonna have sex with her?" I ask.

"I _knew_ there was something else I wanted to talk to you about! Ok, stand up in front of me so I an see your eyes." I get off his lap and jump down a bale to stand in front of him again. He takes _my_ hands this time. "Look at me because this is _very_ important," he's talking in his serious voice so I squeeze in between his legs and put my face as close to his as I can. "Knock it off, this is important."

I lean back a little and look into his eyes.

"Don't ask me if I'm going to have sex. That's something private between me and the girl I like. Don't ask me that anymore. Also, no one is pregnant. I know you don't understand that right now but you're just going to have to believe me. Do you understand?"

I nod my head yes.

"Don't talk about me and sex to anyone else either. Remember when you told Karen about the other girl I brought home?"

"Yes."

"You can't do that. You can't tell people I have sex a lot or a girl I'm dating is pregnant, or I'm trying to make a baby. Do you understand that?"

"Yes."

"Good. I mean it. If you do that you're gonna find yourself in a heap full of trouble." He looks at me real seriously when he says that.

"What does that mean?" I ask real slowly because I _don't_ know what he means by that.

"That's something Adam and I need to talk about."

I don't like the sound of that.

"But guess what?" He says lifting me up and onto his lap. "If you don't talk about me and sex, you won't have anything to worry about!" He gives me a big bear hug and I laugh. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes! I'm starving! I didn't eat any breakfast this morning. Brian can I have nachos?" I get off his lap and jump down to the ground. "Please?"

"I don't know," he says as he jumps down. "We were supposed to meet everyone a little while ago." He takes my hand and we start walking. I start to skip a little because I feel really happy. There's a bunch of people walking around and I look at everyone while Brian leads me along. I see two pretty girls about Brian's age walking by and they both smile really big at him when they pass us. Brian stops walking and turns around to watch them so I turn around too. They're smiling and waving back at him and I look up at Brian and he's tipping his cowboy hat at them.

"Oh brother!" I yell. "Brian come on!" I pull on his hand until he turns around and starts walking again. "It's time to eat! Not stare and smile at pretty girls! Especially since your teeth are still a little black!"

"Ok, ok! I'm coming!" He says and we walk along. "Oh, by the way, I'm gonna get you and Guthrie back someday for the black teeth!"

"We'll see!" I yell as I let go of his hand and run towards Guthrie.

* * *

We meet up with Adam, Hannah, Crane and Guthrie at the food court. Daniel, Evan and Ford are there too! "Daniel!" I yell and I run up to him and jump up and he catches me.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite sister!" He says while he swings me around and I laugh.

"Hey everyone!" Hannah yells so everyone looks at her. "So far I've got five burgers and two hotdogs. What do you guys want?" She asks me and Brian.

"Nachos!" I yell.

"Hamburger or hotdog?" She asks.

"Nachos!" I yell again and Guthrie yells, "me too! I want nachos too!"

"You're not having nachos," she says. "Pick hamburger or hotdog or I'm choosing for you."

"Fine. Hot dog," I tell her as I fold my arms across my chest and glare at her.

"Knock it off!" Adam says so I put my arms down. "You don't need nachos right now. Guthrie, you and Heidi go help Ford and Evan find a table."

We run off and help find extra chairs to go around a small table.

"Are we all gonna fit here?" I ask.

"Yeah, we can all squeeze in," Evan says.

"Evan, can I stay with you after lunch and help you?" Guthrie asks.

"Me too! Me too!" I yell and I jump up and down.

"You don't even know what he needs help with!" Guthrie says.

"So!"

"I don't know. You guys wander off a lot," Evan says.

"We won't this time," Guthrie says.

"Yeah, I promise!" I tell him. "Pleeeeeese?"

"I have to ask Adam and you guys have to promise you'll stay with us. I mean it, I don't want to have to go looking for you," he says.

"You won't have to do that!" Guthrie says. "I promise!"

"Me too!"

"Ok," Evan says.

"Are you sure you want them with us?" Ford asks Evan.

"I doubt Adam will let them go anyway," Evan says.

"Why wouldn't he?" I ask.

All three of them are staring at me. "Never mind. I know why."

Brian and Crane come to the table carrying our sodas and then they go back for beer. By the time they come back Hannah, Adam and Daniel are back with the burgers, hot dogs and fries. It's fun to eat all together 'cause we haven't done that in a whole week. We're all squished around this little table too, so it's kind of fun.

"Adam can I go with Evan after lunch?" Guthrie asks.

"Can I too?" I ask.

"I don't know, where are you going to be exactly Evan, and what are you doing?" Adam asks.

"We get to help out down by the broncs. Ford's gonna be with me too. Cooper Johnson wants us to watch the riders get ready. He said he's gonna test us on it next Saturday."

"I don't know," Adam says. He looks at me and Guthrie.

"Oh come on Adam. How much trouble could they get into with both of us there?" Evan says.

Everyone stares at Evan.

Evan says, "I mean how could they get into trouble when they both want to be there."

Everyone still stares at him.

"Why are you guys looking at him like that?" I ask. "We'll be good." I look up at Adam when I say that last part. "I promise."

He looks down at me and picks me up. "You'll stay with Evan and Ford?"

I nod my head and smile at him. "Yep!"

"Because you're the one I'm worried about."

"Where am I gonna go?" I ask.

"Hey Ford, make sure you keep a good eye on them. You too Evan. Where do you guys want to meet at four o'clock?"

"Come down where the broncos are, we'll meet you there," Evan says.

"Yeah!" Guthrie yells.

"Look at me," Adam says so I look up right in his eyes. "You stay with Evan and Ford. Don't wander off, ok?"

"Ok. I promise I won't!"

"Alright, I'm trusting you." He sets me down and Ford, Guthrie, Evan and me say goodbye to everyone.

"Are you sure about this Adam?" I hear Brian say as I walk by.

"I can hear you!" I yell on my way by.

"Good!" He yells after me. "Just make sure you stay with them!"

I don't know where else I would go. I love rodeos and actually getting to be close to the competition at a professional one is so cool! I run up to Ford and grab his hand.

* * *

"Ok Heidi, sit right here and don't move!" Evan tells me as he puts me on top of the fence. I'm sitting on a fence that's away from the bronco pen so I can watch without being in the way. I'm up high too, so I can see real good. Guthrie gets to be right with Evan and Ford to watch first and then we'll switch.

The first guy going out on the saddled bronc stays on for sixty seconds which is good, but I hear Evan tell Guthrie he's seen seventy before. Evan, Ford and Guthrie are up there close and watching carefully. The second guy only stays on for forty-five and he's mad! He's swearing a lot when he comes back in. Ford looks over at me and I cover my ears. I can still hear him though, but that's ok because all cowboys swear at rodeos.

I start to get bored so I look around to see if there's something I can do. I jump down and walk around a little. There's a lot of cowboys back here. I watch two bringing the next bronc up and that horse looks mad! I watch them take it over to where my brothers are and then I get bored again. I wonder where the cowgirls are. I look around but I don't see any. I look at the clock. 2:15. Evan said me and Guthrie would switch at two-thirty. That's a long time to wait. I get back up on the fence and watch the next guy go out.

He gets a sixty-nine. That's the longest time so far. I'm bored again. I look at the clock again and I don't think it's moved at all! When is it gonna be two-thirty? Two. Why does that sound familiar? Two? Oh no! I forgot! Two o'clock I was going to meet Nancy! She said two o'clock in building two! What do I do? I really want to go meet her! I bet Ford would take me!

I jump off the fence and run to where my brothers are.

"Get back Heidi!" Evan yells.

"It's not time to switch yet!" Guthrie yells.

"But, Ford can you...," I start to say.

"Get back!" Ford yells.

"But I just want to..,"

"Go!" Evan yells. "You're gonna be in the way!"

I walk back to the fence. I'm gonna be in the way of what? This is so frustrating! I look at the clock. I don't know what to do! I really want to go see Nancy, but I'm supposed to stay here.

"Ford!" I yell. He can't hear me so I yell it again louder, but he still can't hear me. I look back at the clock. 2:20. What if I go and come back before four o'clock? I know I shouldn't go, but I have to! I'll just come back before four o'clock. I think Evan and Ford will understand, just as long as I'm back before everyone meets us at four. I jump off the fence and run out to the exit of the arena.


	14. Chapter 14

I've got to find building two. I think I know where it is so I head in that direction. I'm gonna have to hurry though, I don't want to miss getting autographs. I guess I should run because I'm already late.

The first building I see is building four. The next building I see has the number six on it. What? That doesn't make any sense. What happened to building five? I turn around and start running back the way I came because if the numbers are getting bigger, I must be going the wrong way. I pass building four again and finally see building two. I run up to the door and go inside.

* * *

It's a small building with a few tables set up. Some of the cowgirls I saw racing earlier are sitting at the tables signing autographs. There's a short line so I go stand in it. I look around for a clock and when I find it, the time says 2:45. I should have time to get an autograph and make it back to the arena by four.

The line is moving slowly and it's pretty much all girls standing in line with their parents. I think I'm the only one in line by myself. When I'm near the front and see the first table I watch a girl with her mom get an autograph. The cowgirl has pictures of herself racing and the girl's mom pays the cowgirl a dollar for the picture and she signs it. What! I didn't know it would cost money!

I watch the next girl hand the cowgirl a piece of paper and she signs that. Good, I don't need money, but I wish I had some so I could buy a picture. I don't have any paper and I don't see any on the table. I guess I don't really want an autograph on a piece of paper, because I won't remember who it is without a picture to go with her name. I look around for Nancy.

She's sitting at the last table. I wish I could just go up to her and talk to her instead of all the other girls first, but I can't because the line is one big line for all the cowgirls. I try to get Nancy's attention, but she's busy. When I make it to the first table I look at the cowgirl and she smiles at me.

"Hi," she says, "what would you like me to sign?"

I stare at her and I don't know what to say.

She keeps smiling and says, "do you have something for me to sign?"

"No, I forgot to bring something and I don't have any money to buy a picture," I tell her.

"That's ok," she says. "Let me go see if I can find something. She gets up and walks over to another table and finds some paper. When she sits back down she asks me what my name is.

"Heidi. When I grow up I'm gonna be on the rodeo circuit."

"Good for you. Are you competing in your town's rodeo?"

"Yes, and other ones near our town too. I'm getting better with barrel racing and I'm really good at roping calves. I always come in first place, my brothers taught me how to do it."

She smiles and says, "well, keep practicing and I'm sure you'll get to be on the rodeo circuit someday."

I smile at her and she writes something on the paper, and then she signs it. When I look at it I read what she wrote, "to Heidi, I'll see you some time soon on the circuit. Susie Miller."

"Thanks for the autograph!" She smiles and I move on to the next table. I guess the cowgirl at this table is tired because she smiles and takes my paper and signs it and doesn't talk to me at all. I move on to the next. There's only two more tables before I get to Nancy. I talk a little to the rest of the cowgirls and get their autographs, until I finally get to Nancy's table.

"Hi Nancy!"

She smiles and says, "hi Heidi. I'm glad you made it! Are you ready for our tour?"

I feel sad then. "I don't think I can go. I have to be back at the arena by four o'clock."

"I'm done here at 3:30. I can walk back with you if you want."

I look at the clock. 3:15. "No, I should really go back after I get your autograph."

I hand her my paper and she says, "are you here by yourself?"

I stare at her because I don't know if she'll be mad at me if I tell her I am.

"You are, aren't you?" When I nod my head she says, "would you like me to sign one of my pictures for you?"

"I don't have any money."

She smiles and says, "that's ok. I have lots of these."

"Really?" I smile big. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She signs her picture and I look at it.

She wrote, "follow your dreams, Heidi. Love Nancy Tate."

"Maybe I'll see you later tonight, or tomorrow?" She asks.

"Yeah, we're coming tomorrow. We're going home on Monday," I tell her.

"Well, maybe we can meet tomorrow and I'll give you the tour."

"Ok! Thanks!" I yell. I want to hug her, but I can't since she's sitting behind a table. I run to the door and rush outside. I'll have to hurry if I want to make it back by four o'clock.

* * *

I don't know what time it is when I finally make it back to the arena, all I know is I want to get back to Evan and Ford as fast as I can! I have to push through lots of people when I run on the dirt path that goes around the arena. I find the area where Evan was helping and I look around. I don't see my brothers anywhere. Is this the right place? I walk around a little bit trying to find them. I find the fence I was sitting on earlier so I know I'm in the right place, and I look for the clock. 3:40. Good, I'm back before four, but where are they?

I don't know if I should look for them, or stay here. Should I go to the lost and found? I think about that for a while and then I think I should stay here, because I know that's where everyone's supposed to meet in just a little while. I guess I'll go sit on top of the fence where I was watching Evan.

I climb up and sit and stare at the clock. Time is going by so slowly! I'm starting to worry now because I don't know where Evan and Ford are. I'm also feeling tired. Probably because I didn't get much sleep last night. I keep staring at the clock and I'm getting tireder and tireder. I jump down from the fence and look for a good place to sit. I see a big beam I can sit down and lean against that's out of the way, so I go over there and sit. I lay Nancy's picture on the ground next to me and look at the clock. It doesn't take long before my eyes start to feel really heavy and I keep nodding off. My body keeps jumping awake until I finally go to sleep for good.

* * *

"Heidi wake up," I hear Hannah calling.

I open my eyes and I'm curled up in a ball laying on the ground. What happened? I sit up and look around. Oh right, I'm at the rodeo. "Hannah, I'm tired."

"I know. I think we're going back to the motel to rest up before dinner and the dance." She's kneeling down beside me and then she asks, "Heidi, where are your brothers?"

I look around. "I don't know."

"How long have you been asleep for?"

"I don't know. Where's Adam?"

"He's looking for Evan, Ford and Guthrie. We saw you sleeping here so Crane, Brian and Adam went to go look for them."

"Oh." I lean back against the beam and close my eyes. Hannah sits next to me and since it's a big beam she leans against it too. I lean against her and she puts her arm around me. I can feel myself nodding off again. My body keeps shaking awake.

I wake all the way up though when I hear my brothers voices and it sounds like they're yelling.

"Ask her Adam!" Evan yells. Then he yells at me, "where've you been Heidi?!" I stare up at him and Evan looks mad! "I told you I didn't want to have to go look for you! Now I missed out on everything I was supposed to be learning today!"

"Heidi, did you go somewhere?" Adam asks me.

I stare at him and my eyes start to water.

"See! She won't answer you! Tell him Heidi!" Evan yells so I look down at my legs.

"Heidi?" Adam asks again. "Answer me. Did you go somewhere? Did you leave Evan, Ford and Guthrie without telling them where you were going?" Adam's not yelling at me, but he's talking in his serious voice. He kneels down next to me. "Heidi, look up at me."

I look up at him and tears fall down my cheeks.

"Where were you?" He asks. I look around and everyone's here now and they're all looking at me. Evan's the closest to me and he looks the maddest. I don't see Daniel though, he must be with his band.

I hold up my autographed picture of Nancy. "I went to get this."

Evan grabs it out of my hand.

"Hey! Give it back!" I yell.

Evan looks at it and says, "you left to go get this?! I've been searching all over the place for you! All three of us have! We thought you went to the bathroom and got lost! We've been looking for over an hour!"

"I'm sorry." I guess going to the bathroom and getting lost would've been a better thing to say. If I said that, I might not get in trouble.

Evan looks super mad now and I scream as he tears Nancy's picture in half and then rips it up more.

"No!"

"Evan!" Brian yells.

"You didn't have to do that!" Crane yells at him.

"She told me she was going to stay with me! I'm so mad at you! I knew I shouldn't have let you stay with me!"

I cry and I watch Brian and Crane pull Evan back away from me. I cover my face with my hands and cry harder. I look up and yell out to Evan, "you ripped it up! I can't believe you did that!"

Adam turns around to talk to my brothers. "We'll meet you later," I hear him say. Then he turns to me and says, "get up. Go wait for me at the fence." I look at where he's pointing and I get up and slowly walk over to it.

I look over at my family and I wonder what they're talking about. After a few minutes I see Adam give Hannah a kiss and then he walks over to me.

"I'm sorry Adam," I tell him when he gets near. I'm still crying.

All he says is, "keep up with me," and then he starts walking away. I have to run after him to keep up as he walks towards the exit of the arena.

I run after him through the crowds of people and he doesn't stop when we're out of it. He's walking so fast now, I have to run to catch up.

"Wait!" I yell. He doesn't slow down at all. "Adam wait!" I yell as I run to catch up. I'm crying a lot now because I'm tired, I'm mad at Evan, I'm mad at myself for leaving and ruining Evan's day and I just can't keep up. I don't even know where we're going. I have to stop to catch my breath. "Adam!" I yell, but he doesn't turn around. I have to stop. "Adam!" I yell as loud as I can. "I have to stop!" Lots of people look at me as they walk by and I walk now instead of run. When I see a bench, I walk over to it and sit down. Now I'm mad at Adam because he's leaving me.

I watch him get further and further away. Why isn't he turning around? I guess he doesn't care. Well if he doesn't care about me, then I'm not gonna care about him! I fold my arms across my chest for a second and then I feel bad so I cover my face with my hands to cry. I don't think I've been sitting here for even a minute when I feel someone pick me up.

I start to break away because it scares me, but then I see it's Adam who's picking me up so I wrap my arms around him. He carries me to wherever he's heading to. Neither one of us says a word. I rest my head on his shoulder and try to figure out where we're going. Pretty soon I figure it out because he walks out the exit gate and we're in the parking lot.

"Where are we going?" I ask. When he doesn't answer I ask again, "Adam, where are we going?" He doesn't answer so I stop asking. When we reach the truck he puts me down and opens the passenger side door.

"Get in," is all he says.

Once we're both in he starts the truck and I lean against the door and close my eyes.

* * *

When the truck stops I open my eyes and we're at the hotel. I get out and walk with Adam through the parking lot to the lobby. He's walking fast now and I'm so tired I don't even try to catch up. I know where we're going. To our room.

Adam unlocks the door and holds it open while he waits for me to come in. I'm not sure what to do when he closes the door so I sit on the bed and watch him take one of the small chairs at the table and put it in front of me. He picks me up and sets me on it, then he sits on the bed right in front of me. It's kind of like we're at home and I'm sitting on the couch and he's sitting on the coffee table in front of me. I sit in the chair and stare at him and he stares back at me.

"Let me see if I understand what happened. You left Evan, Ford and Guthrie to go get an autograph? You left without asking them and knowing that I told you to stay with them? Knowing that I was trusting you to do that?"

I stare at him. Well, he's not yelling. He looks kind of tired though. Maybe he needs a nap too.

"Are you tired?" I ask.

He stares at me and doesn't answer. "Heidi, I'm really disappointed in you today." I hate that word. I'd rather have him yell than say that.

"I tried to ask Ford if he would take me to get Nancy's autograph but he wouldn't listen to me. They all just kept saying, "stay back and go back. I didn't know what to do."

I think he's gonna yell now because his face is going from disappointed to mad.

"What do you mean you didn't know what to do?! You already knew! You were supposed to stay with your brothers! That's why I let you go with them, because you promised me you'd stay with them! I trusted you." He says that last part quietly.

"I'm sorry. I'm mad at Evan for tearing up my autograph."

"Is that all you can think about is that stupid autograph?! Do you even understand how worried they were about you?!"

I stare at him and cry.

"I know how worried they were because you did the same thing last night!"

Now he starts yelling some more but I can't hear him because for some reason I'm getting mad at him. Why do I feel mad at him?

"Listen to me!" He yells so I stop thinking.

"What!" I yell back.

I think that surprised him because he looks at me kind of weirdly and doesn't say anything. Then he goes back to looking angry. "You can't leave people like that!"

"Why not?! YOU LEFT ME!" I blurt out.

I think that surprises both of us. "What are you talking about?" He asks. "I never left you."

"Yes you did! You left for five days! You left so you could go have fun! You're not supposed to do that! You're supposed to stay home and take care of your...," I'm not sure what to say right there. He looks surprised. I continue because I'm really mad and I'm crying really hard. "You left us with Brian and it wasn't fun! He didn't even want to stay with us! Neither did you! Now Brian thinks he's my dad too and I don't want him to be! I only want one dad and it's supposed to be...," you, I say in my head.

I wipe my eyes and stare at him. I'm not sure what to do now, but Adam knows. He picks me up and puts me in his lap and holds me.

I cry and say, "you only called at night to see if I was good that day! And then you'd yell at me on the phone! Maybe if you were home I wouldn't have gotten in trouble!" He holds me away from him a little bit and looks down at me and I look at him. "Well, maybe I wouldn't have gotten in as 'much' trouble. Maybe I wouldn't have skipped school yesterday or...,"

He pulls my chin up so I can look in his eyes. "You skipped school?"

"Maybe." Darn it! Why'd I have to open my big mouth. Guthrie always tells me not to talk. "But you left! You didn't tuck me in for five nights! Not even last night!" Adam starts to rock me and he kisses the top of my forehead but he leaves his head there and rests his cheek on top of my head. I climb up him and put my arms around his neck and rest my cheek on his shoulder while he rubs my back. I'm so tired from crying I just want to close my eyes and go to sleep.

"Heidi, I'm sorry I was gone for so long. I missed you a lot and..,"

That's all I hear because I fall asleep.

* * *

When I wake up and I open my eyes I'm in bed. Well, not really 'in' bed, just laying on top with the bedspread over me. I sit up and look around the room. Adam's not in here. Maybe he's in the bathroom. I get up but the bathroom door is open and no one's in it. I open the door and look out in the hallway, but no one's there either. Where did he go? Maybe he's next door. I walk out into the hallway and as soon as I shut the door I remember it locks! No! I try to open it back up, but it won't. I go next door to the boy's room and knock on the door.

No one answers. I knock louder and yell, "Adam? Brian?" Where are they? I don't know what to do. Should I try to find Adam? What if he went back to the rodeo and left me here? I start to cry quietly. I guess I'm supposed to stay here. I walk back to my room and sit down on the floor and lean against the door. I look down at the carpet and feel it with my hand. It's not soft at all. I can hear someone walking down the hall but I don't even bother to look up.

"What are you doing out here?" Adam asks. I look up at him and see he's holding a Coke.

"Where were you?" I ask.

"At the vending machine. I went to get a Coke." He holds it up.

"I thought you left me here," I tell him. I stand up so he can unlock the door.

"Heidi, I would never leave you here."

When I come in I sit on the bed and watch him sit in a chair at the table.

He looks at me and says, "how did it feel when you didn't know where I was at first?"

I think about that. "I guess I was worried at first, and then I was scared because I thought you left me. I didn't know where you were."

"That's how we feel when we don't know where 'you' are. We feel worried and scared. We're not scared because you left us, like you just thought I did, we're scared because we don't know if you're safe. It doesn't feel good when you wander off or leave without telling us."

"Sorry." I think about that for a minute and then say, "hey, did you leave me in here alone just so I'd know what it felt like to be worried about 'you'?"

Adam smiles at me and says, "no, it just worked out that way." His smile fades and he says, "so, tell me about skipping school."

I groan and fall backwards onto the bed.

"Sit up, we're talking," he says.

I sit up and look at him, "I don't want to talk right now."

"Tough luck. Tell me about skipping school," he says again.

"I'm tired."

"You just took an hour nap."

"I did? What did you do while I was sleeping?"

"I took a nap too, now quit changing the subject. Tell me about skipping school."

"I skipped it."

Adam starts glaring at me. "Tell me the details," he says.

I think about it for a minute and start. "Well, we skipped school ...,"

"Who's we?" He asks.

"Me and Guthrie."

"Go on."

"We skipped school because we didn't want to get suspended."

Adam keeps glaring. At least he's not yelling. "What were you going to get suspended for."

"Fighting."

"Both of you?"

I nod my head. "Yep."

"Explain that."

"What?"

"The fighting part."

"Oh. We were gonna fight someone."

Adam closes his eyes and rubs his hand on his forehead. He looks tired when he does that.

"I thought you said you took a nap," I say.

He opens his eyes and glares at me. "I did."

"Then why do you look so tired right now?"

"Because you're not talking!" He yells.

"Yes I am."

"You're not telling me what I want to know!"

"What do you want to know?"

"WHO were you going to fight and WHY?"

"Oh. We were gonna help Kenny fight Gary because the night before," I think a little bit, "Thursday night, him and his brother Rick took our ladder away so we couldn't get off the roof of the post office."

Adam's eyes get big. "What were you doing on the roof of the post office?"

"We slid around a lot because there's this cool gravel stuff up there that's perfect for sliding on and we were also throwing little rocks at people," I tell him and then I cover my mouth with my hand. Oops, I should be quiet because Adam's eyes keep getting bigger and bigger. I uncover my mouth and say, "but Brian already yelled at us for all that. We didn't think he would be mad, but he was. He told us that after the fire department left, I think. Or maybe he told us when we got home. I really don't...,"

"The fire department was there?" He's almost yelling.

"Yeah, they had to get us down. Gary and Rick hid the ladder we climbed up on, that's why we were gonna beat Gary up, and that's why we skipped school so we wouldn't get suspended. That would've been way worse. Right?"

Adam closes his eyes and shakes his head.

"It wouldn't have been way worse? We should've fought and got suspended?"

"I didn't say that," he says opening his eyes and glaring at me.

"No, but your head said it." He doesn't say anything so I keep talking. "Brian got mad at us for skipping school. That's why he made us dig a bunch of holes. Only we didn't know he wanted us to do that so we dug a grave instead." Something pops into my head. "Hannah lied to me."

"What are you talking about?"

"She lied about Happy going to the animal hospital. Brian shot him and buried him in a grave."

Adam stares at me. "You know about that?"

"Yeah. Brian told me."

"Why would he tell you that?"

"I don't know. He just did. It made me sad."

"I'm sorry. We can talk to Hannah about that later. Right now we're talking about skipping school and the roof."

He looks at me like I'm supposed to say something. I'm not sure what it is so I look at the clock. 6:00. "Adam, what's for dinner?"

He looks at his watch. "Hannah and your brothers are supposed to be here any minute. We're going across the street to the big hotel. They have a buffet there."

"What's that?"

"Never mind. Let's get back to what we were talking about."

"But Brian already talked to me about it. He already yelled at me too."

"Good. Now it's my turn."

"But that's not fair! Both of you can't talk to me and yell at me!"

"Sure I can."

"No you can't! I'm pretty sure you can't do that!"

"Don't say that to me!" Adam yells.

"Don't say what to you?"

"That I 'can't' do something! Do you remember ...,"

I groan. Now he's gonna talk and talk and talk. I look down at the bedspread and find a loose thread on the edge of it. I wonder what would happen if I pulled on it. I start to pull on it and it's a long thread. It keeps coming out as I pull on it and bunches the material on the edge up. I wonder how much I can pull out before it breaks.

"Heidi! Stop playing with the bedspread!"

I jump and drop the thread and look at Adam. Then I pull the thread up and say, "see how long it is."

I look at him and he's glaring at me so I drop the thread and sigh. "What?"

I hear people out in the hallway and there's a knock on our door. I jump up and run and open it.

"Hi!" Guthrie says as he comes in. Hannah follows him in. "Are you guys ready to eat?" Guthrie asks. "Because I'm starved!"

"Me too!" I yell. I look over at Adam and watch Hannah hug and kiss him.

He looks at me and says, "we're not done with our conversation. We'll talk later."

"Later when?" I ask. "Later, like after dinner, or later, like at bedtime?"

He glares at me and says, "later, when I say it's later."

"That doesn't make any sense. Do you mean..,"

"Quiet!" Adam says. "Is everyone ready to go?" He asks Hannah.

"Brian and Crane are meeting us there and Evan and Ford are going with them." Hannah gets her make-up bag and goes into the bathroom. I follow her to watch. I jump up on the counter and watch her get her lipstick out.

"Hannah? I accidentally broke one of your lipsticks."

"What do you mean?" She asks, and then puts some lipstick on.

"I was putting it on and I must've pressed too hard because it broke. It was your pink lipstick. I'm really sorry. I'll buy you a new one."

"You don't have to," she says. "It's just a lipstick."

"Um, I should also tell you that I broke one of your perfume bottles," I say quietly.

She looks at me and I'm not sure if she's mad. "How did that happen?" She asks.

"I was trying to see which perfume smelled the best and I accidentally dropped it."

"I thought Adam told you not to go in our bedroom," she says.

"I did tell her that," Adam says. He's standing in the doorway to the bathroom with his arms folded across his chest.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" I tell him and I glare at him and fold my arms across my chest. "I'm having a private conversation with Hannah!"

I hear Hannah laugh a tiny bit.

"No you're not," he says. His arms are still folded across his chest but his eyes are smiling.

I jump down from the counter and squeeze past him saying, "yes I was!"

He grabs the back of my shirt and pulls me back towards him which makes me laugh. He puts his hand under my chin and lifts my head up so I'm looking at him kind of upside down and that makes me laugh more. He looks down at me and says, "we'll talk about that later too."

"We'll see," I say as I escape and run over to the bed where Guthrie is sitting. Adam talks to Hannah and I ask Guthrie what he's doing.

"Waiting for Hannah. We're gonna go eat when she's ready."

I get up on the bed and start jumping. Just small jumps, but Guthrie gets up on the bed too and starts jumping higher. We laugh and Guthrie runs across the bed and jumps over to the other bed. When he lands on it, he flies up diagonally towards the other side of that bed and almost lands on the floor on the other side of the bed. We laugh at each other.

"Hey!" Adam yells. "Quit acting like a bunch of yahoos!"

That makes us laugh harder. "What's a yahoo?" Guthrie asks as we jump on the beds.

"That's what Hannah calls Adam when she's mad at him!" I yell and we laugh more.

"Quit jumping on the beds, it's time to go eat." Adam says.

"Yeah!" I yell. "Just one last jump!" Guthrie gets off the bed so I run across this bed like Guthrie did and jump to the other one like he did. I'm lighter so when I land on it I fly diagonally across the bed and right into the wall! When I fall down to the floor Adam rushes over and I sit up slowly and laugh.

"That was fun! Can I do that again?" I ask.

"No. Get up. Are you ok?" Adam asks.

I stand up. "Yep! Remember, I'm tough!" I lift my head way up to look at him and smile really big. "See, no broken teeth!"

He messes up my hair and says, "alright, let's go you two."

We all head out of the room and walk down the hallway. "Where are we going?" I ask.

"The Hilton Hotel across the street," Hannah says. When we get to the lobby I can tell it's dark outside.

"How come our hotel is a motel and not a hotel?" I ask as we walk outside.

"See how big that hotel is?" Guthrie asks as he points to the Hilton. "Now look at ours."

"Oh. How come we're not staying over there?" I ask.

"It's too expensive," Guthrie says. "Come on, I'll race you to the corner!" He takes off and I follow. He always wins and since he's first to the cross walk, he gets to press the button.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Adam yells but the walk sign starts flashing and we race across the street.

"Come on!" Guthrie yells. "I'll race you to the hotel doors!" We race and when we reach the doors I stop and stare.

"What kind of door is that?!" I ask Guthrie. I'm staring at a door that turns around in a circle. I watch someone walk out and it turns. "How does it do that?"

"Come on!" Guthrie yells. He stands in the door and pushes it and it starts to turn and he walks into the building.

"Wow!" I follow him and we stand inside looking at it. I go through it again so I'm outside now. Then we both get in it and spin around and around laughing until someone yells, "STOP!"

We stop in the middle of spinning and stare at Adam and Hannah. "Get out here," Adam says. We spin the door so we're outside.

"What?" Guthrie asks.

"Quit fooling around," Adam says. "We're not out on the ranch. You're not going to run around like crazy. Stay with us and don't go running off anymore."

Hannah adds, "use good manners too."

We both say ok and walk in with them, but I keep stopping. There's so much to look at! There's so many noises! This place is huge! I look at a bunch of people sitting on stools putting money into a machine and pulling the handle. I don't know what they're doing, but if all of them are doing it, it must be fun! I forget I'm with my family and walk towards them. Hannah takes my hand and says, "stay with us."

"What are they doing?"

"Playing a game. Come on, we're going upstairs."

"Why?"

"That's where the buffet is."

I don't know what this buffet thing is everybody keeps talking about, all I know is, it better taste good. "Can we take the elevator?" I ask.

"Look Heidi!" Guthrie yells.

"Ahem!" Hannah says.

"Sorry," Guthrie says in a normal talking voice. "Look Heidi. Escalators."

I look and see them. "I love the moving stairs!" I yell and I start to take off, but with Hannah holding my hand I get nowhere.

"No yelling and no running," she reminds me so I start walking faster and pulling her.

"Come on." We get on the moving stairs. "Can we go down them and back up again?" I ask. "Pleeease?"

"No. We're going to eat dinner now," she says.

I look at everything I can while we're going up. There's way too much to see!

"Heidi, there's a sign that says bowling alley down there," Guthrie says.

I look around but don't see it. "Can we go bowling after dinner?" I ask.

"We're going back to the fairgrounds after dinner," Adam says.

"Why?"

"Daniel's band is playing."

"We saw him play last night," Guthrie says. "Can't we go bowling instead?"

"Let's eat now," Adam says when we reach the second floor.

"Does that mean we can go bowling after we eat?" I ask.

"No."

Me and Guthrie glare at each other but only for a second because right in front of us is a huge restaurant full of people and we stare at that instead.

"This is where we're eating!" I yell.

Adam and Hannah laugh and then tell me not to yell.

"Here comes Crane," Guthrie says. "And Brian, and Evan, and Ford."

I turn around and watch them coming up the moving stairs. I want to run to them but I don't because I'm not supposed to run. I also don't because I don't know if Evan is still mad at me. They're all holding drinks.

"Where'd you get those drinks?" I ask them when they're closer.

Adam walks close to Evan and Ford and says, "those better be sodas."

They tell him they are but I notice they're not letting Adam get close to their drinks. Interesting. I smile because when Adam walks away they look at each other and laugh a little.

We get in a line and I ask what it's for.

"We have to wait for a table," Hannah tells me.

"Oh. Can I go up and down the moving stairs while we wait?" I ask.

"Promise you won't run on them?" She asks.

Wow! She's actually going to let me do this? "I promise! Guthrie, Hannah said we could go on the moving stairs!"

"She did?"

"Yep! Come on before she changes her mind!"

Hannah says, "remember, no running on the escalators."

We walk over to them and step on. There's no one on them right now so we walk down instead of riding down. At the bottom we walk over to the up one and get on. There's still no one around. We start to walk up instead of ride but Guthrie says, "hey look! Money!"

I turn around and watch him bend down and pick something up. He holds out his hand so I can see two quarters, a dime, and four pennies.

"I wonder who's it is," I say. We both look around but don't see anyone. My brothers always say if you find something on the ground, pick it up and ask the people around you if it's theirs.

"There's no one around," Guthrie says.

"I know. What should we do with it?"

"I guess we could keep it," Guthrie says.

I shrug my shoulders. We're at the top of the moving stairs now and when we step off our family is still in line so we decide to go down again.

"Here, we'll split it." On our way down Guthrie hands me a quarter and two pennies. "What should we do with the dime?"

"You keep it," I tell him. "You're the one that found it."

"Guthrie! Heidi!" Ford yells. "We have a table!"

"Ford, you're not supposed to yell!" I yell up to him and then I cover my mouth with my hand and laugh. "Oops." Guthrie laughs too.

When we get down to the bottom, we go back up and follow Ford to our table.

* * *

Dinner is fun! I never saw so much food in my life, and you get to put whatever you want on your plate! The first time I get food I put almost everything there was to choose from on my plate. It was so full I had to pile food on top of food! When I bring my plate back to the table I sit next to Crane since he's at the other end of the table from Hannah. I'm a little mad at her because she wouldn't let me have Coke to drink. She made me order milk since I already had a Coke at lunchtime.

"You can't eat all that!" Crane says and he laughs.

Everyone laughs and Hannah says, "Heidi, you're only suppose to take what you can eat. You can always go back for seconds. Even thirds, if you want," she adds.

"That's why I'm sitting down here," I say very quietly to myself.

"What was that?" Brian asks.

"Nothing." I eat, but after I eat a little steak, some spaghetti, and a roll, I'm full. I stare at all the food on my plate. "Crane, I'm full. Do I have to eat all this?"

"No, but next time just put a little bit of food on your plate." He gets up to go back for seconds.

"Brian, can I get dessert?"

"Sure."

I go to the dessert area and take as much as I can carry back using two hands. I've got a piece of cake on a small plate that I put a chocolate chip cookie on top of, another plate with apple pie on it that I put some chocolate pudding on. When I get back to the table Hannah looks at my plates.

"That's way too much food Heidi. Who said you could get dessert?" She asks.

"Brian," I tell her as I take I bite of chocolate cake.

"Oh. Well next time don't take so much."

After a few bites I'm full. I push my plate away and listen to everyone talk. Evan stands up and walks over to Crane. He asks if he can trade places so Crane gets up. When Evan sits down he looks at me.

"I'm sorry, Heidi, for tearing your picture up. I shouldn't have done that. I'll get you another one tomorrow."

"Ok." I look down at the table and say, "Evan, I'm sorry I left you."

"I wish you wouldn't have done that. I missed out on learning some important stuff."

"I'm sorry. Will you get to learn it tomorrow?"

"I don't know. I have to do other stuff first. I hope I get to. But Heidi, I won't be able to show you the tie-down roping tomorrow."

"Why not?" I ask. I was looking forward to that.

"I don't trust you to stay with me," he says.

"But I promise I will!"

"That's what you said today."

I look at him and start crying. "You said you would take me!" I look over at Brian.

"Don't look at me. I agree with Evan. You shouldn't have wandered off. He doesn't trust you now."

"I didn't wander off! I went somewhere! I knew where I was going!"

"But you weren't supposed to leave," Brian reminds me.

I get up and look over at Evan again. "You said you were going to take me! I'm telling!" I walk over to Adam and stand next to him and wait for him to finish talking to Hannah. When he's done he looks at me.

"Why are you crying?" He asks.

"Evan won't take me to the tie-down roping like he said he was going to!"

"I don't blame him."

"You're not supposed to say that! You're supposed to tell him he has to take me!"

"I'm not going to do that. He doesn't trust you to stay with him. Even if he said he would still take you, I wouldn't let him."

"Why not?!"

"I don't trust you to stay with him either. Go sit down and stop yelling."

I stomp back to my chair and sit down. I fold my arms across my chest and glare at everyone.

"Knock it off," Brian says. "You don't need to act like that."

I glare at him now. "You're not supposed to say that! You're supposed to laugh!"

"Well I'm not laughing."

I stand up and start to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Brian asks.

"To the bathroom! Do you want to go with me?!"

"Hey, don't yell at me like that!"

I clench my fists at my sides as tight as I can. "I don't like this Brian! You're not acting normal!" I'm mad at him. "Can I go to the bathroom now?!"

He glares at me but says yes, and tells me we'll finish our talk when I get back. Guthrie asks if he can go too so we both go in search of the bathrooms.

* * *

Guthrie's waiting for me outside the girl's bathroom.

"Heidi, do you want to do something fun?"

"Yes!" Maybe doing something fun will help keep my mind off Brian and Evan. "What do you want to do?"

"Follow me," he says. I follow him through the restaurant and out to where the moving stairs are.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Downstairs," he says.

"Wait, I'm not going to get in trouble for wander off, am I?"

"Who cares! This will be worth it!" I follow him down the moving stairs and over to where the people are playing the machines.

"What are we doing?"

"Watch," he says. "See that guard over there?"

"Yes. Why?"

"We're gonna sneak around him and go in."

"How are we gonna do that?"

"See how he asks to see everyone's drivers license?"

"Yeah."

"We're gonna sneak in when he checks the next person's license."

There isn't a doorway into where the machines are. It's a big open area so people can walk in anywhere. The guard can see the whole area, but sometimes lots of people want to come in at the same time. We wait for a big group to come and sneak in behind the machines near the front. There's more a machines behind the front ones. I follow Guthrie until he stops at an empty isle at the back wall. He pulls out his money we found earlier.

"Take your money out," he says.

"What are we going to do?"

"Play the machine. You put money in and pull the handle and more money comes out!"

"Are you sure?" I ask. I don't know about this.

"Yes. Watch."

I watch him put a penny in a machine. He pulls the handle but nothing happens. "I guess this one's broken," he says. We each put our pennies in different machines but the handle won't come down on those either. Once we put a coin in, the machine won't let us put another one in. I can't believe all these machines are broken! I put a quarter in and pull the handle and it works! The pictures in the machine spin around and around! Then they stop and nothing happens.

"What happened? I want my quarter back!" I kick the machine like I've seen my brothers do to vending machines when the candy won't come out after they put their money in. But still nothing happens.

"Let me try," Guthrie says. He puts his quarter in and pulls the handle. We watch the pictures spin around until they stop. Then the machine makes a bell sound and a light on top of the machine turns on and starts spinning around as 'tons' of quarters start coming out!

"We won!" Guthrie yells.

"We're rich!" I yell and we start stuffing quarters into our pockets.


	15. Chapter 15

"We're rich! We're rich!" I yell again. I can't believe all the quarters that are coming out of this machine! We can't put any more in our pockets so Guthrie holds the bottom of his shirt up to make a pouch and I put quarters in it.

The only problem is the machine keeps making a dinging noise as the quarters come out and the light on the top of the machine keeps flashing. The quarters finally stop coming out and I hurry and put them in in the pouch Guthrie made from his shirt.

When I've picked up almost all the quarters off the floor I hear Guthrie say, "uh-oh." I look up and see a bunch of people standing around looking at us. Some are smiling and some aren't, but then I see why Guthrie said uh-oh. The police guard is running towards us and he looks mad.

"Should we run?!" I yell.

"Maybe! I don't know!" Guthrie yells back.

"Guthrie, why is he so mad?!"

"Because we're not supposed to be in here, and were not supposed to play with the machines!"

"What?!" I should've known that since we had to sneak in. "We're gonna be in so much trouble!"

"I know!"

The police guard is here now and he says, "you're going to have to come with me." I see two more guards coming and two people that look like they work at the hotel. Why does everyone look so mad? "What's your name son?" The guard asks Guthrie.

Guthrie says, "my name is Guthrie and this is my sister Heidi."

The lady hotel worker is carrying some big plastic cups in her hand, and when she gets to us she holds one out to me and says, "take the quarters from your brother's shirt and put them in the cups." She smiles at me, but just a little. I start putting quarters in the cup and a horrible thought occurs to me.

"Are we gonna get arrested and thrown in jail! I don't want to go to jail!" I cry.

"Heidi, be quiet and put the quarters in the cups," Guthrie whispers, but I can tell he's scared too.

When I get all the quarters out of Guthrie's shirt we take the quarters out of our pockets and put them in a cup. When we're done we have seven big cups full of quarters. The hotel workers and the guards pick up the cups and one of the guards tells us to follow him. He walks in front, the other two guards walk in back of us, and the two hotel workers walk on either side of us. Everyone in the place is staring at us. I cry and whisper to Guthrie, "I want Adam."

"I don't," he whispers back.

"No talking!" One of the guards behind us says.

"Heidi, whatever you do, DON'T talk," Guthrie says. "Let me do all the talking."

I nod my head.

* * *

We follow the guard down a hallway. They stop in front of a doorway and the guard walking in front of us opens it. There's a desk inside with two chairs in front of it. It reminds me of the principal's office.

"Rick, we're going to have to separate these two. The boy keeps telling his sister not to talk. He told her to let him do all the talking."

"He always tells me that!" I yell.

They tell Guthrie to go into the room while I follow another guard to a different room that looks almost the same as the other one. "Sit down in the chair," he tells me, so I do.

I'm scared. I want Adam or at least Guthrie. The lady hotel worker sits in the chair next to me while the guard sits at the desk. "I'm Officer Rick, and this is Kim, the hotel manager. What's your name?"

"Heidi." I watch him write that down on a piece of paper.

"Last name?"

"McFadden. I want my dad," I tell him.

"We'll get your dad in a minute," he says. I didn't even realize I called Adam my dad until he said that. But I'm scared now and that's who I want. A dad. "What's your address?" He asks.

"Hotel Six. Wait, I mean Motel Six."

Officer Rick looks up from what he's writing to stare at me. "What's your _home_ address?"

I tell it to him and he writes that down, and my phone number. I also tell him Adam's name. Then he puts his pen down and looks at me. "What you did is a serious crime."

Before he can say anything else I blurt out, "what is?! I don't know what you're talking about! I want my dad!" I start crying.

"Stop talking and let me finish! I'm not going to call for your dad until I've finished talking to you! So stop crying and yelling and answer my questions. Otherwise, I'll leave and we can do this later."

"I'd like to do it later, please," I tell him. I hear Kim laugh a tiny bit.

He glares at me. "That means, _I_ leave and _you_ sit here for thirty minutes until you're done crying and yelling."

"Oh. Ok, I'll stop." I wipe my eyes.

"Like I was saying, what you did was a serious offense...,"

"What was?" I ask.

"Gambling!"

"What's that?" I tell him.

"It's what you were doing. Playing the slot machine."

"What's a slot machine?" I ask.

He slams his hand down on the table. "This is serious!"

"But I don't understand you. What's a slot machine?"

He sighs and glares at me when he says, "the machine all the quarters came out of is called a slot machine."

"Oh. Why is it called that?" This guard kind of reminds me of my principal, Mr. Brick.

"What?! I don't know it just is! You're not supposed to put quarters in slot machines!"

"We only put the quarter in because the pennies and dime didn't work," I tell him.

"Are you trying to be smart with me?" He yells.

I have to think about that question. I've been asked that before and I think the answer is always no, so I'll say that because I really don't understand the question. "No."

"Did you put other coins besides quarters in the slot machine?"

I nod my head yes and count on my fingers. "Yes five other machines, but they're all broken because when we put the money in, the handle wouldn't work."

The guard looks at Kim and she gets up and leaves.

"Where's she going?"

"To tell someone you broke five machines!"

"No we didn't! They were broken before we put the money in!"

"You're not supposed to put pennies, dimes, or nickels in the slot machines!"

"We didn't put a nickel in."

"You're not supposed to put anything in a slot machine!" He yells. His face is red now and it looks sweaty.

"Why not? Everyone else is."

"Adults! You have to be twenty-one to play!"

"I didn't know that. You should have a sign that says that."

He grabs at his hair with his fingers and pulls a little as he yells. "WE DO!"

"I didn't see it."

Kim comes back into the room and sits down.

"Haven't your parents taught you anything about gambling or betting!?" He asks.

"I know how to bet. My family plays poker all the time," I tell him. "Can I play that here?"

"NO! You can't play any games here!"

"You mean there aren't any games for kids? What are we supposed to do if our parents play games? Watch them?"

"No you can't watch them! You're not allowed to be anywhere near the games?"

"Why not?"

"Because it's against the law." When he says that he lets out a big breath of air. "That's why we have a bowling alley. Kids can do that."

"I can't do that unless I have an adult with me."

He stares at me. That's all he does, he just stares at me.

"Can I see my dad now?" I ask.

Rick looks at Kim and she nods and gets up and leaves.

"Can I have our money now?" I ask.

That makes him mad. "It's not your money!"

That makes 'me' mad. "Yes it is! We won it! The machine gave it to us!"

"But you weren't supposed to play with the slot machine!"

"But we didn't know that!"

"I think your brother did," he says.

"But _I_ didn't know!"

"Doesn't mater! That money belongs to the hotel."

I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him. "Two of those quarters are ours!"

"Tough luck!"

I'm madder now and my brain is thinking. "Hey, if _you_ were doing your job right, _we_ wouldn't have even been in there!"

"What?!" He yells.

Uh-oh! That was not a good thing to say. "Never mind, I take that back. I take it back!"

Rick gets up and leaves the room. I can't believe he's not gonna give us back the money we won. Not even our two quarters! Guthrie was wrong! This was NOT worth getting in trouble for!

* * *

I've been sitting in here forever! I wonder where everyone is. I get up and walk over to the doorway and peek outside. No one's in the hallway so I slowly walk out of my room and over to the room Guthrie's in and peek in.

"Guthrie," I whisper. He's sitting in a chair just like I was.

He looks over at me and whispers, "you're not supposed to be here! Go back to where you were!"

I turn around and run right into Officer Rick! "You're not supposed to be out here! Stay in that room!" He yells.

"Sorry, I didn't know. When do I get to see my dad? I've been in there for over an hour!"

He glares down at me and says, "it's been ten minutes! Get back in there!"

I walk back into the room and sit in the chair. I'm so bored so I stand up and look at the things on his desk. There's a cup full of pens and pencils, some papers, a picture of a baby, and the notepad he was writing on. I wonder what it says. I reach over and slide it over to me so I can read it.

Hmmm. He spelled my last name wrong. It's a capital F and two d's instead of one. I take a red pen out of the pen cup on his desk and cross out my last name and write McFadden the right way above it. Just like my teacher does when she corrects my writing assignments.

I read more and see he wrote three pennies instead of four so I fix that, and he wrote nickel instead of dime so I fix that.

"Don't touch that!" Officer Rick yells.

I jump and the pen flies out of my hand and hits him in the face. I put my hand up to my mouth to hide my laugh because he looked so funny when it hit him. His eyes were crossed and he pulled his head back and tried to hit the pen out of the way with his hand.

"Sorry. That was an accident." I sit down again and he comes in and picks up his notepad so I tell him, "you made some mistakes, so I corrected them."

He glares at me and says, "stay in that chair and don't touch anything!"

"When can I see my dad? It's been a long time."

"Believe me, I'm trying to find him as fast as I can!"

"He's in the restaurant upstairs." I call out to him as he leaves. Now I'm bored again. I look around the room. I have to find something to do while sitting in this chair and not touching anything. That's going to be hard to do. I think for a while and then I get an idea. He didn't say _where_ the chair had to be! I scoot the chair over to the doorway so I'm blocking it. I can see the hallway from here. There's no one in it at first, but now I hear voices and someone is walking in the hallway. It's two people. Adam and Officer Rick!

"Adam!" I yell and I start to get up and run to him, but the look on his face tells me not to. Uh-oh. As they walk by me I whisper loudly, "Adam, we won a lot of quarters!" He glares at me and Officer Rick takes him into another room. I wonder how many police rooms they have. I sit back down and watch the hallway. Pretty soon Officer Rick comes out of the room and walks past me to Guthrie's room. "Follow me," he says to Guthrie. Then they walk to mine and he says the same thing to me. We walk into the room where Adam is.

This room is bigger. It has a bigger desk with three chairs sitting in front of it and Adam is sitting in the middle one. When we walk in Officer Rick sits behind the desk and Guthrie sits in the first chair by Adam. I walk over to the chair on Adam's other side and grab it and start to drag it over to the other side of Guthrie. I don't really want to sit next to Adam right now. I don't think Adam likes that because he stands up and grabs the chair from me. He picks it up and bangs it down onto the floor where it was. I sit down on it and scoot away from Adam, but he stops me and pulls it close to him. Closer than it was before.

Officer Rick looks at us and says, "I've been talking to..,"

That's all I hear because I start thinking about other stuff. I wonder why we can't keep the quarters? I look up at Adam and he looks mad. I bet the quarters would make him happy. I look at Officer Rick and his face looks red and it's all sweaty again. He just keeps talking and talking and talking and now he's staring at me and his lips aren't moving anymore, he just keeps staring at me.

"Heidi!" I hear Adam say so I look up at him. "I don't think she heard you," he says to Officer Rick.

"I said, do you understand?"

I'd better think before I say something. I look up at Adam but he doesn't look at me. "Yeeees?" I ask. That must be the right answer because he looks at Guthrie now and asks him the same thing. Good! Now maybe we can go. After Guthrie says yes, Officer Rick starts talking again. I groan and Adam slaps his hand down on my knee and leaves it there.

That kind of hurt. I look up at him but he's looking at Officer Rick while he talks. I wish we could go now. I look at the officer and he holds up his notebook that has the corrections I made on it. I feel Adam squeeze my leg harder so I look up at him. It's really starting to hurt so I try to move my leg away from his hand but since he's stronger I can't, and he squeezes harder.

"Ow," I cry. "That hurts."

He looks down at me and squeezes a little less hard, but not much. I look back at the officer. When is he gonna stop talking! He just goes on and on and on! I groan again and try to slump down in my chair but Adam squeezes my leg hard again so I sit up straight and he lets up. After a little while Adam stands up and so does everyone else. Finally! I jump up and follow Adam and Guthrie out into the hallway.

Adam walks with Officer Rick while Guthrie and I follow behind.

"How mad do you think Adam is?" I ask very quietly.

"Very!" Guthrie says.

When we reach the end of the hallway and walk out of the slot machine area, Officer Rick stays and we follow behind Adam. He leads us over to a bench by the front doors and tells us to sit down and stay there. Ford and Evan are nearby so they come over while Adam leaves to find everyone else.

Evan sits next to me on the bench and he's smiling. "Jeez, what'd you guys do? Adam looks really mad!"

I stand up to face him and tell him, "we won a whole bunch of quarters!"

"No!" Ford says. He looks at Evan and their eyes get really big and they start laughing. "You guys gambled?!" They think that's hilarious.

"Yeah, we won so many quarters they needed seven big cups to put them all in! But guess what?!"

"What?" Evan asks.

"They wouldn't let us keep any of them! They wouldn't even give us our two quarters back!" They think that's funny too.

Guthrie looks at me and says, "you asked for our quarters back?"

I nod. "Yep. I was gonna ask for our dime and...,"

Adam, Hannah, Brian and Crane are walking towards us and they don't look happy.

"Let's go," Adam says and we all follow behind. We don't go out the round spinning door we go out the regular doors instead. Guthrie seems really sad so I try to cheer him up.

"I'll race you!" I yell. Ford grabs me from behind before I can take off. "Hey!" I yell and he grabs ahold of my hand.

"This isn't the time to race. Guthrie's upset and everyone else is mad," he says.

"That's why I want to race. Do you want to race me?"

Evan picks me up. "Now's not the time to race." We're at the corner of the sidewalk and Hannah pushes the button to cross the street.

"Evan how come kids can't play with the machines in the hotel?"

"Because you have to be twenty-one."

"But, why?"

"I don't know, you just do."

"Maybe it's because they don't want kids to spend all their money," Ford says.

"I don't have any money," I say as we walk across the street. "Evan, if you put me down we could race."

"I don't think any of them are in the mood for us to race," he says as he nods his head in the direction of Adam, Brian, Crane and Hannah.

We all walk quietly the rest of the way back to our hotel.

* * *

Adam tells me and Guthrie to wait in our room while the rest of them figure out who's gonna go where and in what car. They're all in the room next door with the door open so I open our door to listen. Guthrie and I sit in the doorway and we can hear everything because they're not talking quietly.

"I can't believe they won!" I hear Crane say and they all laugh, even Adam.

"I know! I wish I would've put a quarter in that slot machine," Brian says.

"It's too bad they didn't get to keep any of it," Evan says.

"I know, that would've been nice," Crane says.

"Yeah, that would've been nice, but they didn't get to keep it, and now we're kicked out of their hotel," Adam says. "Not that I care about that."

"Are you serious?" Brian asks. "We can't go back there because two little kids put a quarter in a slot machine?"

"They said it's 'standard procedure', whatever that means. And it wasn't just a quarter, it was four pennies, and a dime in five separate slot machines," Adam says.

Everyone laughs at that. "Are you serious?!" Crane asks. They can't stop laughing.

"Every time I think those two can't get into any more trouble, they do something else that's stupid without thinking!" Adam says.

"Do you think Heidi knew what she was doing?" Hannah asks.

"No, I think this one has Guthrie written all over it," Adam says.

Good, I think. Maybe I'm not in trouble.

"I'd agree with that," both Brian and Crane say.

I smile and look at Guthrie and he glares at me.

"It was actually a little funny when the officer was talking to me about questioning Heidi. I could tell she got to him," Adam says.

"I know what that's like," Brian says. "I listened to her talk to her principal, Mr. Brick this week, and she can be hilarious sometimes. I don't know how you do it Adam. Sit in the principal's office and keep a straight face."

"You should of seen what Heidi did to the policeman's notebook. I was mad when I saw it at first, but then it kind of made me laugh. She corrected his spelling mistakes in red pen."

They all think that's hilarious and I have to keep myself from laughing out loud. They don't stop laughing for a while. Then Evan says, "if you're all laughing about this, what are you so mad at them about?"

"They said they were going to the bathroom and they snuck downstairs," Adam says. I can tell he's not happy when he says that, and I'm not smiling anymore.

"Remember how you felt earlier today?" Brian asks Evan. "She did the same thing to you earlier today when she wandered off."

I definitely don't like this new Brian. He's supposed to be laughing and trying to tell Adam not to go too hard on us. Not agreeing with him!

"They also snuck into an area they knew they weren't supposed to be in," Crane says.

"I guess you guys are right," Evan says and everyone's quiet.

"So what are we doing now?" Ford asks. "When are we going back to the fairgrounds?"

"You guys take the jeep now and I'll meet up with you later," Adam says. I hear them all agreeing and it sounds like they're coming out into the hallway, so I get up and shut our door and we run to the bed and sit down.

"Please let me do all the talking," Guthrie says to me.

"Ok, I'll try."

When Adam opens the door he's by himself. "Where's Hannah?" I ask.

"She left with your brothers."

"But she should be here with you."

"Don't worry about Hannah right now," he says. "You should be worried about yourselves right now."

I stare up at him and ask, "why? Are we in trouble?"

Adam looks mad now and Guthrie says, "Heidi! Stop talking!"

Adam looks at Guthrie and says, "don't tell her that! I'm tired of you telling her that. She has a lot to say and she needs to be able to say it."

"But whenever she opens her mouth, we always get in more trouble than if she just kept it shut!"

"That's not true!" I yell at him.

Guthrie looks at me and glares.

"Well, I try not to," I tell him.

We both look at Adam and he looks at me first. "You wandered off AGAIN! Only a few hours after we talked about NOT doing that anymore!"

"Guthrie said it would be worth it." Guthrie groans and I look at him and say, "it was NOT worth it!"

Then Adam looks at Guthrie and says, "and 'you'! You wandered off 'and' snuck into a place you knew you weren't supposed to be in!"

"_I_ didn't know we weren't supposed to be in there," I tell Adam, but he keeps looking at Guthrie and talking to him. I watch them and wonder when we're gonna leave. I look at the clock. It's after nine o'clock! "Do you know what time it is?!" I ask Adam, I look at him and he glares at me.

"Yes I know what time it is!"

"Oh, I was just wondering because we should probably leave now if we're gonna go hear Daniel's band play tonight," I say.

"I'm talking to you right now! I'm talking to Guthrie now and you're next!" He yells.

"Actually, you're yelling now," I tell him and I hear Guthrie groan a little bit.

"You know what?!" Adam yells at me. "I think I've heard enough out of you today! Three times you wandered off today! Three!"

"Actually it was two today and one time last night," I remind him and I don't think I should've because he doesn't look happy.

"Would you just shut up! And don't you DARE open your mouth and tell me I'm not supposed to say shut up to you!" He yells.

"You told Guthrie to let me talk and now _you're_ telling me not to?" I ask.

"That's what I was gonna say," Guthrie says and he looks at me and we shrug our shoulders.

Adam closes his eyes and rubs his forehead with his hand.

"Are you tired?" I ask. He doesn't say anything, he just keeps rubbing his forehead. "Adam?" I look at Guthrie and he puts his finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet. Then he starts talking to him.

"Adam, I'm sorry I took Heidi with me to play the slot machines. I'm sorry I snuck in," Guthrie says. Adam opens his eyes and looks at Guthrie. "I'm sorry I got us kicked out of the hotel too."

I watch Adam carefully. I'm trying to see if his face is gonna get mad. It doesn't yet and Guthrie keeps talking to him and I hear Adam say something to Guthrie about being disappointed. I'm starting to get bored because I think I've been sitting here for a while and I haven't said anything for a while. Maybe I could go get some ice. I get up off the bed and walk over to the table and pick up the ice bucket.

"What do you think you're doing?" Adam asks.

"Getting ice?" I ask hopefully.

"You don't need ice," he says.

"Adam, are you mad at us?" I ask as I set the ice bucket down on the table.

He looks at me with his most serious face ever. "I am so disappointed in you Heidi for wandering off again, and yes, I'm mad at you for doing that."

"Sorry." I go sit back down on the bed next to Guthrie. "Are you mad we can't go back to that hotel?"

"No."

"Good. They had a lot of broken slot machines there. We put money in five machines before we found one that worked."

"I heard about that," he says. "You broke those five machines."

"No, they were already broken before we got there. They wouldn't work," I tell him.

"They don't work unless you put a quarter in them."

"Oh. I didn't know that. How come it doesn't say that on the slot machine?" I ask.

"It does."

"I didn't see it anywhere."

"That's probably because you were too short to see it," he says. "Now someone has to fix those five machines. They have to open them up and take out the coin you put in."

"Oh." All three of us are quiet now. "Can we go now?" I ask.

"No! I'm not done talking to you yet!"

"You mean yelling," I remind him and Guthrie jabs me in my side with his elbow. "Ow!"

Adam is just staring at us now. I don't think he looks mad, I think he just looks tired.

"Adam? Don't you think it's kind of funny that we won all those quarters?" I ask. He doesn't know we were listening to all of them talk next door.

He glares at me. "No I don't think it's _funny_!"

I smile at him. "Yes you do. We heard you guys laughing about it."

Guthrie groans and flops backwards onto the bed.

"So you were eavesdropping?" Adam asks.

"No, we were just listening..,"

"Heidi, that's called eavesdropping," Guthrie says.

I look at Adam and he looks at me. "Adam, can you be done yelling at us now so we can go?"

Adam looks at the clock. "I guess we should go," he says and me and Guthrie get off the bed.

"Yeah!" I say and we both run towards the door.

"But!" Adam says, so we stop and look at him. "This conversation is far from over. We've got a lot to talk about. Wandering off, sneaking into a place you're not supposed to, skipping school, going up on a roof...,"

"You _told_ him!" Guthrie yells at me.

I stare at him. "Brian was going to tell him anyway."

"Yep," Adam says. "We're going to have a conversation with Brian too."

"Why? Are you gonna yell at him too?" I ask.

"No I'm not going to yell at him! We're both going to talk to you about what happened this past week."

"What happened?" I ask. I smile at Adam.

"Wipe that smile off your face missy," Adam says as he gets his jean jacket and puts his cowboy hat on his head.

When I walk out the door I look back at him and say, "don't forget you're gonna answer all my questions about sex and that balloon thing."

Guthrie laughs.

"When are we gonna have _that_ talk?" I ask.

That question makes Adam groan and he says, "maybe I will be yelling at Brian."

I start skipping down the hallway but Adam tells me to stop.

"I want you to look at me right now Heidi." I look up at him and he says, "you are not going to wander off again. Do you hear me?"

"Yes."

"You're not going to run off through the parking lot or anywhere else we're walking. You're going to stay with me. Do you understand me?"

"Just you?" I ask. "For the whole rest of the night?"

"Yep. If you wander off one more time, I'm going to tie a rope around you like you're a baby calf on a leash! You got that?!"

That makes me and Guthrie laugh like crazy! "Ha! That's so funny! You can't do that!" I tell him.

Adam doesn't laugh. "You think I'm joking?" He asks as he walks by us in the hallway.

Guthrie and I follow behind him and look at each other. "He can't really do that, can he?" I ask Guthrie.

Guthrie shrugs his shoulders and says, "I don't know, but I think _he_ thinks he can."

Hmm. I guess I'd better make sure I don't wander off. I catch up to Adam. "What if I have to go to the bathroom? Do I have to stay with you the whole _entire_ night? What if I want to dance with someone else? Are you ignoring me?" I ask as we walk out to the parking lot. "Adam? Adam! What if you want to dance with Hannah all alone? Hey, would you put the rope around my neck? Because that would hurt, and I bet you can't do that!" I keep asking questions as we get into the truck and Guthrie keeps laughing and I don't know if Adam is smiling or not, but I ask a lot more questions as we drive back to the fairgrounds.

* * *

When we walk into the building where Daniel's band is playing I grab Adam's hand. There's even more people here tonight than there were last night. We walk to the front of the stage where families of the bands get to sit. None of our family is sitting at any of the tables because they must be dancing, but we see the table where their jackets are so we go sit there.

"Adam can we dance?" I yell 'cause it's kind of hard to hear with the band playing. "Come on!" I yell as I go over to him and pull on his arm.

"Not yet!" He yells back so I can hear him. "I'm going to wait for Hannah for a little bit."

"Aw! Come on!" I try pulling again, but he's not budging. "Can we get something to eat?" I yell.

"No!"

"Come on!" I yell as I put my hands on his shoulders and shake him. "You're being no fun!" He smiles at me and picks me up by my waist and sets me on his lap.

"Are you going to bug me all night?" He yells.

"Yep!" I say as I look up at him. "Are you sure you want me to stay with you so I don't wander off? I can stick to you like glue," I remind him.

"That's what I want. I don't want you wandering off."

Daniel's band starts playing a song I really like so I get up and me and Guthrie start dancing near the table. Hannah and Crane come over to the table so I run up to Crane and jump up on him.

"What are you trying to do, strangle me?" He asks as he picks me up and I laugh. "Do you want to dance with me?" He asks.

"I can't!" I yell in his ear. "I have to stay with Adam. He's no fun tonight 'cause he won't dance with me."

"Maybe he'll dance with you later," he says as he puts me down and sits at the table. I sit at the table too and get bored fast because they're talking about grownup stuff. It's too hard to hear them anyway.

Guthrie sits next to me and says, "I wish you could go out there with me. When you're in trouble it's kind of like I am too."

"I know. I'm hungry and thirsty. Do you think they'd let you go get something to eat or at least get something to drink?"

"I can ask." I watch as Guthrie gets up and asks Adam if he can, but I can tell by Guthrie's face that he said no. He comes back and sits next to me again.

"Guthrie, we have to think of something fun to do here, 'cause I'm getting bored fast!"

"Me too!"

I look around at everyone dancing and I see Evan dancing with Nancy! "Hey look Guthrie! Evan is dancing with Nancy! She's the cowgirl who gave me her autograph!"

"Nancy! Evan!" I yell.

"They can't hear you!" Guthrie yells at me.

"I'm gonna make Adam dance!" I yell at him and I walk over to Adam, Hannah and Crane.

"Hannah? Will you make Adam dance with me? Me and Guthrie are bored!"

She stands up and says, "come on boys! We're gonna get out there and dance!" She grabs Adam's hand and pulls him up. Crane, Guthrie and I follow them to the dance floor.

* * *

We're not on the dance floor very long when Daniel's band starts playing a line dance song. I love that kind of dance! So does everyone else in my family. It doesn't take long for Evan, Nancy, Ford and the girl he was dancing with to find us and we all dance next to each other. Brian finds us too and brings a girl with him. Sometimes I wish Daniel didn't have a band so he could dance with us, but he really likes singing so I guess that's ok. We all laugh and have fun dancing. It's kind of fun being at a dance that's not in our home town. We all dance with each other more here, if we were at home we'd still all dance and have fun, but just not all together as much, like we are here.

We all dance together for a few more songs until the band starts playing a slow song. Crane goes with Guthrie to the drinking fountain and I look at Adam dancing with Hannah. Evan is slow dancing with Nancy and I don't know where Brian went. I watch Ford say thanks and goodbye to the girl he was dancing with and after she leaves I go jump up on him and he catches me and holds me up so we can slow dance together.

"Do you miss Cleo?" I ask him. Cleo is his girlfriend.

"Yes. I miss her a lot."

"How come you didn't want to dance slow with that girl you were just dancing with?"

"I only want to dance like that with Cleo," he says as he spins me around which makes me laugh.

"Good. I like Cleo," I tell him. "I only want you to slow dance with her too. Except for me!" I clasp my fingers together behind his neck and lean back as far as I can and he spins me around fast. Then he gets tired and puts me down. He twirls me around in circles until I get dizzy and start to fall over. We laugh as he holds me up and then the slow song is over and Daniel's band plays a fast song.

"I'm thirsty!" I tell Ford.

"Let's go get a drink."

"I can't. I have to stay with Adam."

"I'll take you. Go ask him. Tell him I'll bring you right back."

"Ok." I move closer to Adam and ask if I can get a drink with Ford. He says no so I tell Ford that.

"Sorry," Ford says.

"That's ok. I bet he'll take me to get a drink soon. He did say he wanted me to stay with him." I smile at Ford when I say that.

Ford laughs and says, "don't bug him too much." Then he leaves me alone with Adam and Hannah. They're still dancing slow even though it's a fast song.

I walk up to them and yell, "I'm thirsty! Can you take me to get a drink?"

They look down at me and Adam says, "in a minute. Why don't you dance with one of your brothers." He looks back at Hannah now and they smile at each other as they look into each others eyes.

I pull on Adam's arm. "I can't!"

"Why not?!"

"You two are the only ones out here and I'm not allowed to leave you!" I yell and smile up at him.

"Well just wait a minute," he says while still looking at Hannah.

"What for?" I ask but Adam doesn't answer me so I pull on his arm. "Adam!"

"What?!" He looks down at me.

"What am I supposed to do while I'm waiting?"

"Dance!" He looks at Hannah again.

I tug on his arm. "With who?!"

Adam and Hannah stop dancing so Adam can pick me up.

"You're going to keep bugging us until I take you to get a drink aren't you?" He asks.

I smile at him and nod my head. "Yep!"

He looks at Hannah and asks, "do you want anything to drink?"

"Sure. I'll have a beer."

"Ok, we'll bring it to the table," he tells Hannah as he carries me off to the beer line.

"Adam can I get a soda? Pleeeease?" I look at him and smile my biggest smile.

"Ok. Let's get that first. The beer line is long, that way you can have your drink while we wait and you'll stop bugging me." We smile at each other and he carries me to the food line where the sodas are. He puts me down and I hold his hand. When we get to the front of the line I see they have Mountain Dew so I ask for that and I drink it while we wait in the beer line.

* * *

When we get back to the table with Hannah's beer I only have a little bit of Mountain Dew left. When Hannah sees it she doesn't look happy. But it's not me she's looking at, it's Adam.

"Adam, did you get her a Mountain Dew?" She asks.

"Yes? What's wrong with that?" He asks.

"She shouldn't be drinking a soda this late at night! It's almost midnight! She'll never go to sleep tonight!"

"She'll be fine," Adam says.

"Mountain Dew has the most caffeine out of all the sodas!"

I laugh and Adam looks at me and glares. "What are you laughing at?" He asks me.

"You! She's mad at you!"

"Oh, you think that's funny?" He asks. His eyes are smiling so I know he's gonna tickle me or something.

"Yep!" I yell and I run to the other side of Hannah so he can't reach me.

Adam looks at Hannah and says, "I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't thinking about all the caffeine and sugar. You're right, I shouldn't have gotten it for her."

They talk some more while I go sit next to Guthrie. He looks tired and I don't know what Hannah means when she says the Mountain Dew is going to keep me up all night because I feel tired right now. I rest my head on the table like Guthrie is but it's uncomfortable so I walk over to Adam and sit on his lap.

* * *

I must've fallen asleep because when I open my eyes I'm being carried somewhere. I look around and figure out I'm in the parking lot and Adam's carrying me. Hannah, Crane and Guthrie are with us.

"Where's Brian?" I ask.

"He's going to stay at the dance for a while and then he'll drive the truck back to the motel," Adam tells me.

We all get into the jeep and I'm wide awake now. There's a lot of traffic coming out of the fairgrounds. I feel like we've been sitting in the jeep for a long, long time. "Are we almost there?" I ask.

"Yes."

It doesn't take long to pull into the Motel 6 parking lot after I ask that question. We're all out of the jeep pretty fast and walking down the hallway to our rooms. Crane comes into our room with us. Guthrie looks really tired.

"Hey Crane? Why don't you take Heidi over to your room so she can brush her teeth there. I think Guthrie is going to take a while."

I grab my toothbrush out of the bathroom, and Crane's t-shirt off the bed that I've been using as a nightshirt. "Ready!" I yell.

"Let's go twerp!" Crane says and I follow him out of my room and into his room. Once my teeth are brushed and I'm ready for bed both of us go back to my room.

The tv is on and Adam is watching the news. Crane joins him by the table and they watch together. Hannah is in the bathroom getting ready for bed. Guthrie looks more awake now and I sit on the bed next to him and watch the news too. Well, I'm not really _watching_ it as much as I am staring at the color on the screen. Our tv at home is black and white.

The news is a long show! At least that's what I think. It's also boring! When it's finally over Adam tells me and Guthrie to go to bed. Crane and Adam take out their wallets and pull out all their money and put it on the table and start counting it. Guthrie and I watch until Adam tells us to go to bed again.

"Oh wait, Adam I think I left my toothbrush in Crane's bathroom," I tell him.

"Here," Crane says as he hands me the key to his room. "You and Guthrie go get it."

I take the key from him and Adam says, "don't go anywhere but their room, ok?"

"Ok!" We yell as we walk out of our room. The door shuts behind us and when we're out in the hallway we start laughing because there's a sock hanging on the doorknob to Crane's room.

"Why'd he do that?" I ask Guthrie.

"I don't know!" Guthrie says.

I take the sock off and unlock the door. I turn the light on and we walk in. As soon as I see him I drop the sock. Brian is on the bed naked and he has a girl on the bed with him and she's naked too!


	16. Chapter 16

"Get out! Get out! Get out!" Brian yells at us. He's off the bed now and coming towards us holding a pillow to cover his private area. He pushes us out into the hallway and slams the door shut. Guthrie and I look at each other. Our eyes are big and I feel like my feet are stuck to the floor. Neither one of us moves and then all of a sudden we bolt to our room and start banging on the door.

"Hold on!" We hear Adam yell through the door. "Quit banging on the door! I'm coming!"

As soon as he opens the door we burst in and I yell, "Brian has a girl in his room and she's naked! Brian's naked too! They're in there on the bed naked!"

"It's true!" Guthrie says. "They were both on the bed and they were both naked!"

Crane, Adam and Hannah stare at us. Their eyes are huge and none of them says anything. It's like they're frozen.

"Did you hear us?!" I yell. "THEY'RE NAKED!"

Hannah's the first to talk. "Yes, we hear you, they're naked." She looks at Adam and then back at us. "Come and sit down on the bed."

We both sit down and look at each other. "Oh my gosh!" I yell. "Did you see..,"

"Alright that's enough!" Adam yells. "Stop talking about it!"

Guthrie and I laugh. "What do you think they're doing right now?" I ask him.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" Adam yells and he's covering his face with his hands and shaking his head and he looks so funny Guthrie and I laugh so hard we fall off the bed.

"Ok," Hannah says to us. "Get up you two and calm down."

We both get up and try to calm down but every time we look at each other we start laughing all over again.

Adam groans and says, "Brian!"

"Hey, it's not his fault," Crane says.

"I didn't say it was, Crane. I'm just not ready to have this conversation yet, and it seems like the more stuff Brian does right now, the more questions a certain little girl has." He looks at me when he says that and I smile at him.

"What do you mean by stuff?" I ask him.

Adam sits down on the bed and rests his elbows on his knees and covers his face with his hands. "This is _not_ what I wanted to be thinking about tonight!" Hannah sits next to him and puts her arm around him. Guthrie and I sit across from them on the other bed and stare at him. When he finally lifts his head up and sees us staring at him he says, "what?"

"Well?" I say.

"I'm not having this conversation now!" He says.

"Why not?" I ask.

"Because it's late and you need to go to bed!"

"You expect me to go to sleep after seeing that?!" I yell and Guthrie and I start laughing again.

Crane laughs and Adam says, "if I were you I wouldn't be laughing Crane! It looks like you're going to have to sleep in here tonight, so if you don't want to sleep out in the hall, don't encourage her!" That makes Crane laugh more so Guthrie and I laugh harder.

There's a knock at our door and I jump up and run to it. When I open it, Brian is standing there with his pants on and no shirt. I look up at him and smile.

"May we help you?" I ask, and I start to laugh. He glares at me.

"What were you guys doing in my room?" Brian scoots by me and looks at all of us. "Sorry Adam. I put a sock on the door."

"You expect them to know what that means?!" Adam yells. Hannah puts her hand on his arm, but I don't think he notices.

"No, I didn't mean it like that, I just meant...,"

"What _does_ it mean?" I ask. Now I'm very curious about that sock.

"Nothing!" Both Brian and Adam yell at me which makes Crane laugh harder.

"Laugh all you want to now Crane, because you won't be laughing much while you're sleeping on the floor!" Adam tells him.

Crane stops laughing and says, "sorry Adam." Then he asks Brian, "how long is your _friend_ staying?"

"I don't know. We just got in."

"You just got in?!" I yell while laughing. "What did you do, 'tear' each others clothes off?"

Guthrie thinks that's really funny. Brian glares at me and says, "ha ha!"

"Brian? What were you doing with her on the bed?" I ask and Guthrie laughs and leans over and whispers in my ear, "he was getting lucky!"

I look up at Brian and say, "make sure you use protection! You don't want to get her pregnant!"

"What did you just say?!" Adam asks. "What do you know about protection?!" I know he's talking to me, but he's glaring at Brian when he says it.

Brian glares at me and says, "what did you guys want?! Why'd you come in the room?"

I smile at him. "I left my toothbrush in your bathroom."

Brian turns around and Adam gets up and follows him out to the hallway. "What's she talking about Brian?! What exactly does she know?!"

"Nothing! I didn't tell her anything!"

"Well she sure seems to know a lot for someone who's been told nothing!"

Crane, me and Guthrie are laughing and Hannah is smiling when Adam comes back in and sits back down on the bed next to Hannah. He shakes his head and when Brian knocks on the door he gets up and opens it.

"Here's her toothbrush!" Brian yells. "Now if you guys don't mind I'm going to bed!" That makes Guthrie laugh so hard he has tears coming out of his eyes. Adam slams the door shut and puts my toothbrush in the bathroom. When he comes out he stares at me and Guthrie.

"Bedtime," he says.

"Yeah right!" Guthrie says and I laugh.

"This isn't funny!" Adam yells. "It's bedtime! Get in bed and go to sleep!"

We laugh some more and Guthrie says, "Crane thinks it's funny!"

We all look over at Crane and he stops laughing. "I think I'm going to go see if I can bunk with Evan and Ford. There's not a whole lot of room in here." He picks his wallet up off the table and puts it in his pocket. "Goodnight everyone. Pleasant dreams," he says while smiling at me and Guthrie which makes us laugh. Hannah gets up and guides Guthrie into his bed. Then she pulls back the covers on my bed and pats the mattress meaning I should get in bed, so I do and she puts the covers over me.

Adam gets his jacket and heads for the door so I sit up and ask, "where are you going?"

"Out."

"Where?" He doesn't answer me he just keeps walking out the door. "Adam! Aren't you gonna tuck me in?"

Hannah sits on the bed next to me and kisses my forehead.

"What do you think Brian and that girl are doing in there Hannah?" I ask her. "Are they having sex?"

Hannah smiles at me and puts her hand on my cheek and slides it down to my chin. She lifts my chin up and says, "I think you ask too many questions. Heidi, Adam and I want to answer your questions, just not tonight."

"Where's Adam going?"

"I don't know. I think he just needs to get some air. Close your eyes and go to sleep."

I close my eyes and say, "all I can see when I close my eyes is Brian and that girl's naked bodies!"

Guthrie laughs and I open my eyes and laugh too.

"Ok you two. Settle down and go to sleep. It's 'way' past your bedtime," Hannah says. She gets up and turns all the lights off except for the lamp on the nightstand in between the beds. She gets her jacket and says, "I'll be back in a little bit with Adam."

I sit up. "You're gonna leave us all alone?"

"I'll be right outside," she says.

"Outside where? Outside the door, or outside in the parking lot?" I ask.

"Heidi, lay down and close your eyes, I'll be right back."

"No, I'll be scared."

"Heidi, Guthrie is right here with you," she says.

Guthrie sits up and says, "yeah, and don't forget, Brian's right next door!"

He laughs and Hannah says, "that's enough. Lay back down. Heidi I'm going to get Adam. I'll be right back, I promise." She leaves and I get up out of bed and run to the window.

"What are you doing?" Guthrie asks.

"Looking for Adam." I move the drapes back and press my face close to the glass.

"Do you see him?"

"No, I can't see anything. It's too dark." I put the drapes back and run to the door.

"What are you doing now?" Guthrie asks.

"Seeing if they're in the hall." I open the door and stick my head out to look and there's no one in the hall. I come back in and shut the door. "Nope, they're not out there either."

"I wonder where they are," Guthrie says. He gets out of bed and goes to the door.

"Guthrie, will you go look for them? I can't. I don't want to get in trouble for wandering off."

He doesn't answer me right away. "Please? I'm scared. I don't like being in here without them."

"Ok, but you have to stay here. Don't go out in the hallway or we'll be locked out."

"Ok." Guthrie opens the door and I hold it open and watch him walk down the hallway. "Guthrie!" I yell.

He turns around and says, "what?"

"If you can't find them, bring Crane back."

"Ok." Guthrie yells as he runs to the end of the hallway. When I can't see him anymore I go into the room and shut the door. I'm kind of scared so I turn all the lights on. I even turn the light on in the bathroom because it looks really dark in there. It doesn't help. I still feel scared. I run to the door and open it. There's still no one in the hallway.

"Come on! Where is everybody?" I say out loud even though there's no one to hear me. I think I've been by myself for a long time now. I hope Guthrie is ok. I wonder why he's not back yet. I run back into the room and over to the table. I grab one of the chairs and drag it to the door. Once I get the door open I put the chair in the doorway and see if I can rest the door on the chair without it closing all the way. It works so I run over to Brian's door and start knocking on it.

"Brian! Brian!" I yell, but not my loudest yell because I don't want to wake up people in the rooms next to ours. I keep knocking. "Brian!"

"Hold on!" I hear him say as he gets closer to the door. He opens it enough to stick his head out a little bit, but still keeping his body behind the door. He looks down at me and says, "what?"

"I'm scared."

He looks at me kind of funny and says, "where's Adam?"

"I don't know. He's gone and Hannah's gone and even Guthrie's gone! I'm all by myself and I'm scared now."

Brian sighs and says, "hold on." He closes the door and I wait out in the hallway. In about a minute he opens the door and he's wearing his jeans and he has his t-shirt in his hand. "Come on," he says as he puts his shirt on and walks back with me to my room.

He pushes the chair out of the doorway and says, "get in bed. Where'd everyone go?" He asks as I get in bed and he sits on the bed next to me.

"I don't know. Adam left first and then Hannah went to find him. Now Guthrie's trying to find both of them. I've been here all alone for an hour and I got scared."

"An hour huh?" He says as he leans back against the headboard. I sit up too and lean against him as he puts his arm around me. "So you've probably been alone for about five to ten minutes."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's been an hour. And nobody tucked me in."

"Ok, I'll tuck you in."

"Is that girl still in your room?"

"Yes."

"Won't she miss you?"

"I don't know and it doesn't mater if she does because I'm here with you right now," he says and I snuggle closer to him.

"Thanks."

He squeezes me and says, "do you want me to tell you a story?"

"Not really. We could just sit here. What time is it?"

"Waaay past your bedtime."

We sit quietly until I hear the door open. Adam, Hannah and Guthrie walk in.

"Where'd you go?" I ask.

"Just outside for a minute," Adam says. He looks at Brian and nods to him so Brian gets up and kisses me on the forehead.

"Goodnight," he says quietly.

"Goodnight," I tell him and he walks towards the door and Adam follows him out.

"Now where is he going?" I ask Hannah.

"Nowhere," she says. "Close your eyes."

"I'm not tired," I tell her.

"Close your eyes and _try_ to go to sleep. I'm going to get ready for bed."

While she's in the bathroom Adam comes back in.

"Why'd you leave us?" I ask him.

"I didn't _leave_ you. I just went outside for a few minutes."

"A few minutes!" I yell as I sit up. "You were gone for a _long_ time. At least for an hour."

"No he wasn't!" Guthrie says.

"Yes he was!"

"Lay down," Adam says. "Both of you."

I stay sitting up and ask, "why'd you have to go outside?"

Adam walks around the room and turns off all the lights except for the lamp in between the beds. "Heidi, it's really late. Lay down and close your eyes."

"I'm not tired."

He looks down at me and says, "lay down and close your eyes 'now'. He's not yelling, but I can tell he means it so I lay down and close my eyes for a little bit and open them back up. Hannah comes out of the bathroom and Adam goes in to get ready for bed.

"Hannah why _did_ Adam go outside? Didn't he want to talk to us?"

"Sometimes grownups just need a little time out," she tells me.

"Why? What did Adam need a time out from? Me?"

"No." She sits down on the bed next to me so I sit up. "Lay back down," she says so I do and Adam comes out of the bathroom with his pajamas on.

"You're not asleep yet?" He asks.

"Nope!" I say and I smile. "I'm not tired at all."

Hannah stands up and her and Adam kiss before they get into bed. Hannah gets in my bed on the side next to the wall because I want to be closer to the lamp in between the beds. Adam gets in the other bed on the side closest to the lamp.

"Don't get out of bed tonight," he says to me.

"What if I have to go to the bathroom?"

"You can get out for that, but nothing else. Don't leave this room either." He says as he lays on his side and looks at me. I lay on my side too and look at him. "Don't touch anything either."

"I'm touching stuff right now," I tell him.

"You know what I mean. Close your eyes." I do that and then I open them right back up.

"You didn't tuck me in." I say.

"Close your eyes and go to sleep. It's too late for tucking in. It's been a long night and I'm tired."

"I won't be able to go to sleep if you don't tuck me in."

"Goodnight Heidi."

Adam's eyes are closed now so I close mine and try to go to sleep. "All I see when I close my eyes is Brian's naked body," I say out loud to anyone listening.

Guthrie laughs and Adam says, "stop it and go to sleep."

"That's all I see now when I close 'my' eyes!" Guthrie says and we start laughing again. Adam takes his pillow and hits Guthrie with it which makes Guthrie laugh harder.

I hear Adam quietly say, "I'm gonna kill Brian!"

After a while Guthrie and I finish laughing and go to sleep.

* * *

When I wake up in the morning Adam and Hannah are up and Guthrie's still asleep. Hannah's hair is wet so she must've taken a shower. I look at the clock. 8:45. I'm still really tired so I don't get up, I just lay here in bed. Hannah goes into the bathroom and I hear her turn on her hairdryer. She closes the bathroom door so it's not as loud and Adam carries his socks and boots to his bed and sits down to put them on.

"Good morning," he says. I look at him and don't say anything. I don't feel like it and I'm so tired I can't open my mouth anyways. I watch him put his socks on while he says, "are you hungry for some breakfast?"

I groan, but I think it's more of a grunt than a groan. He smiles at me and puts his boots on. "I'll bring you something back." When his boots are on he stands up and leans over to me and gives me a kiss on my forehead. I close my eyes and go back to sleep listening to the sound of the hairdryer.

* * *

The next time I wake up it's 9:30. I sit up and look around. Guthrie's awake and he's eating a muffin at the table with Hannah.

"Good morning," Hannah says. "Would you like some breakfast? There's a muffin and some orange juice here for you."

I slowly get out of bed and sit on the edge of it.

"What's wrong?" Guthrie asks.

"I'm tired."

"Me too. I just got up. Hurry and eat so we can go to the fairgrounds. They're doing the tie-down roping today!"

That gets me up. I go sit at he table and start eating. I've been looking forward to this competition. "Evan is going to show me...," I stop talking because I remember Evan said I can't be with him today. Suddenly I don't feel like eating.

"What's the mater?" Guthrie asks.

"Nothing."

"Finish eating Heidi," Hannah says. "As soon as Adam is back we're going to go."

I don't think this is going to be a good day.

* * *

When we get to the fairgrounds Guthrie goes off with Evan and Ford and I don't like it. I beg Adam to let me go with them but he says no and reminds me why. That makes me cry quietly to myself as I follow Hannah and my brothers into the arena. But the more I follow the madder I start to get because I can't go with Evan. I start to fall way behind so Crane stops and waits for me.

"What's the mater with you?" He asks. "You look mad."

"I am mad! I mad I don't get to be with Evan!"

Crane kneels down in front of me and says, "look, you can either be mad and grumpy and have no fun, _or_, you can be happy and have fun. You love the rodeo Heidi, come on snap out of it." He smiles at me and then stands up and picks me up and swings me around in a circle which always makes me laugh. He carries me and says, "see, isn't this more fun?"

"Yes." He's right. It feels better to be happy.

We catch up to the others and sit together in the bleachers. It's a lot of fun to watch the competitions and I love cheering everybody on. At some point I glance down and see Guthrie with Evan. They're by the fence and a cowboy is talking to them and showing them something. I wish I was down there. I also see Nancy. It looks like she's talking to Evan. I wonder if she will still give me a behind the scenes tour where they keep the horses. I wonder if Adam will. I look over at Adam sitting in between Hannah and Brian. They're talking and eating sunflower seeds. I'm sitting next to Crane so I think I'll ask him if I can go on the tour with Nancy.

"Crane can I go on a tour with that cowgirl Nancy I met the other day? You know, the one who gave me her autograph. She said she would show me her horse. So can I?" I look up at him and smile really big hoping that will help him say yes.

"You have to ask Adam that," he says.

"Why? Why can't you decide?"

"Because when you wander off a lot like you've been doing, he's the boss."

"But why can't you decide? You're an adult."

"I'm not going to say yes. You have to ask Adam," he says. I glare at him so he picks me up and puts me on his lap and tickles my sides 'till I laugh so hard and I can't stand it anymore. I look over at Hannah. I either have to ask Hannah next or Brian. Lately Brian hasn't been acting like Brian. He's acting like Brian the dad instead of Brian the fun older brother. I get off Crane's lap and stand next to Hannah.

"Hannah," I whisper in her ear.

She looks at me and smiles. "What?" She whispers back.

"Can I go with Nancy later today and see her horse?"

"You have to ask Adam," she says.

"Why? I'm asking you instead."

She just keeps smiling at me and says, "you have to ask Adam."

Now I glare at her as I scoot by her and Adam and over to the other side of Brian. I stand next to him and whisper in his ear.

"Brian, can I go with Nancy later today to see her horse? Please?"

He looks at me and kind of glares when he says, "ask Adam."

"I don't want to. I'm asking you."

"Ask Adam," he says again.

"Ask Adam what?" Adam asks me.

I sigh. "Can I meet Nancy later today so she can show me her horse? Please?" I hope he says yes.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because we're doing other things later today," he tells me.

I put my hands on my hips. "Like what?!"

"There are some exhibits we want to see."

"But those are boring. I'd be with Nancy. I wouldn't be wandering off by myself."

"No. I don't trust you to stay with her," he says.

"But I promise I will."

"No. Now don't ask again."

"What if one of you guys went with me?" I ask.

"No. There are some things we want to see and I don't trust you to stay with Daniel, Evan or Ford. The answer is no, so stop asking before I get mad."

Now I'm mad. I move back over to where Crane is and sit next to him. I fold my arms across my chest and stare straight ahead. This isn't going to be a fun afternoon.

* * *

At lunchtime we meet up with everyone. Evan has Nancy with him and while she's saying hi to everyone I look at Guthrie who's walking behind Evan and he looks upset.

I run up to him. "What's wrong?"

"Evan!"

"What'd Evan do?"

"I met this cowboy and he let me help out with the steers. He said I could come back and help him after lunch but Evan won't let me!"

"Why not?"

"He's doing stuff somewhere else with his class."

"What about Daniel or Ford?" I ask.

"Ford's going with Evan and Daniel is doing something with his band. I guess I could ask someone else."

"Don't bother! I already asked them if they would come with me to see Nancy's horse and they all said no! They have exhibits they want to see when lunch is over," I tell him.

"No! Not exhibits! Those are so boring!"

"I know."

Brian yells at us. "Hey you two, come help me with the drinks."

We run over to him and stand in line with him. I am not looking forward to this afternoon!

* * *

Guthrie and I sit next to each other at the table. I got a corn dog today and Hannah got nachos for me and Guthrie to share. That was nice of her. But Guthrie and I are still upset about the afternoon so we eat quietly and listen to our brothers talk. Crane and Brian are going to one of the buildings to see something about a new tractor or new fence posts or something like that, and Adam and Hannah are going to an area that has something to do with cows.

"This is going to be a boring afternoon," Guthrie says quietly.

"I know. I wonder who we get to go with. The cow people or the tractor people."

Guthrie thinks that's funny so we laugh.

"I wish we didn't have to go with either one!" I say quietly and I look at him.

"I know! It's too bad we can't just say to Adam we're going with him and then tell Brian and Crane we're going with them, and then just go somewhere else that's fun."

"Yeah," I say.

We're quiet for a while and I think about what Guthrie just said. I think he's thinking about it too because we both look at each other at the same time and smile.

"I think it's time to come up with a _plan_," Guthrie says and I nod my head.


	17. Chapter 17

Everyone is talking to each other at the table so they're not paying attention to me and Guthrie. We quietly talk about our plan and come up with a good one. Then we join the conversation so no one thinks we're planning something.

Nancy brought another autographed picture for me. I thank her and give to Hannah so she can put it in her purse. I ask Nancy if she's going to be with her horse after lunch and she says yes. That's perfect! I turn to Guthrie and smile.

Crane asks me about the cowgirl hat I saw that I really, really liked. Brian tells him how much it costs and Crane says we can buy it after we see the exhibits. That makes me even more excited! This is turning out to be a good day after all!

After we're all done eating everyone starts to go their separate ways. Adam asks us if we want to go with him and Hannah to see the cow stuff, or with Brian and Crane to see the tractor stuff.

"We'll go with Brian and Crane!" We both tell him.

"Alright, make sure you stay with them," he says.

"We will," we both say as we smile at him.

He looks at us carefully and says, "you guys look like you're up to something."

"We're not," Guthrie says.

"You'd better not be." Then he turns to Brian and Crane and says, "what time do you want to meet up?"

"How about four o'clock? That should give us enough time."

"Alright. Meet back here at four."

Everyone agrees and we go in separate directions. Guthrie and I follow behind Crane and Brian and Guthrie looks back at Adam and Hannah. When they're almost out of eye sight Guthrie tells Brian and Crane, "I think we want to go with Adam and Hannah."

Brian and Crane stop walking and turn around.

"Look, they're right there. We'll run and catch up to them," I say.

"I don't know," Brian says.

"You can still see them," Guthrie says. "You can even watch us run to them."

"Ok," Brian says and they watch us run to Adam and Hannah.

We run like we're trying to catch up, but were not. Adam and Hannah are almost out of sight so all we have to do is run until we're just out of Brian and Crane's sight, but not close enough that Adam sees us. We timed it perfectly! It looks like we caught up to them, but once we're out of Brian and Crane's view we sneak off towards the arena.

* * *

We laugh as we run towards the pens and stables where the animals are kept. We stop at the first stable and look for a clock.

"It's one o'clock," Guthrie says. "Let's meet right here at two-thirty. That will give us enough time to figure out how to meet back up with them."

"Ok."

"Ok, look at me Heidi," he says.

I look at him. "What?"

"You 'have' to be here at two-thirty. Ok? You can't be late."

"I won't," I tell him.

"Don't be. I'm gonna go find my friend. I'll meet you back here. Do you remember what time?" He asks me.

"Yes! I got it! Two-thirty!"

"I'm just making sure."

"Ok, see ya," I say as I walk into the stable.

* * *

I walk around the stable looking for Nancy. It doesn't take me long to find her. She's over in a stall brushing a horse. I run up to her.

"Hi Nancy!" I yell as I run up.

"Hi Heidi! What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. Do you need any help?"

"Sure," she says. "This is my horse Star. You can help me groom her."

I'm so excited to help. I help Nancy with Star and after that she gives me a tour of the stables and introduces me to the other cowgirls on the circuit. They let me follow them around and help them take care of their horses. Nancy lets me ask her lots of questions and she even answers them too. I occasionally look at the clock so I'm not late meeting Guthrie. I still have a half hour so the girls take me to where their trailers are.

"You guys live here?" I ask.

"No, only a few people do. Most of us share hotel rooms."

I ask what hotel they're staying at and when Nancy tells me the Hilton Hotel, I tell her about me and Guthrie gambling and getting kicked out. She thinks that's really funny. We talk some more for a while until I ask her what time it is and she says almost three. I tell her I have to go meet Guthrie and we say bye to each other.

"I'm meeting up with your brother, Evan, tonight, so I guess I'll see you then."

"Ok!" I yell. "Bye!" I run back to the first stable where I'm supposed to meet Guthrie.

* * *

I've been waiting in front of the stable for a long time now. I'm sure the clock is broken, because it says 2:35 and I know I've been waiting here longer than five minutes. I keep looking around wondering when Guthrie is going to show up.

At 2:45 I start to wonder if I'm waiting in the right spot. I'm pretty sure I am, but just to be sure I'd better look around the area. Maybe Guthrie is waiting on the other side. I walk around and I don't see Guthrie anywhere. I wish I knew where he went. I walk back around to the front of the stable and wait. I'm sure this is the right spot. I hope he gets here soon.

At 2:50 I start to worry. It's not like him to be late. I'm not sure if I should go look for him or wait here. I guess I'll wait ten more minutes and if he's not back by then, I'll go look for him. I find a bench to sit on, but I get tired of sitting. I walk over to the fence and sit up on that, but I get tired of that. I've been here forever! 3:00. Now what do I do?

"Heidi!" I hear Guthrie yell. I look over to where the sound is coming from and see Guthrie running towards me. I run towards him.

"You're late! It's 3:00!"

"I know I'm sorry, but come with me! I have to show you something! You're gonna love it! Hurry!"

I run after him and follow him as he passes all the stables, all the pens and we're way far away from where everything is. I don't even know if we're on the fairgrounds anymore.

"Where are we going?!" I yell.

"Hurry!" He yells back. Now I can see what he's running towards. It's a broken down shack. Maybe it's a tiny house, but I don't think anyone could live in it because it looks like it's falling apart. Guthrie runs around the back of it and I follow.

"Look!" He says when we get around to the back. I stop running and stare at a man sitting on an almost broken porch step petting a dog. "Heidi, this is Bill. Bill, this is my sister Heidi."

"Hi," I say, and then I look at Guthrie. "Why are we here?"

"Look." I follow Guthrie closer to the porch steps and crouch down like Guthrie to look under the steps.

"Puppies!" I yell. Six tan puppies are looking at me and when they see me and Guthrie they all run to us and start jumping on us and licking us. I fall back and laugh as they climb all over me. The puppies all look exactly the same! They look like the dog sitting next to Bill.

"This is my dog Belle," bill says, "and these are her pups."

"Aw! They're so cute!" I yell. The puppies are so excited! They're climbing all over me and Guthrie and making us laugh. "I want a puppy so bad!"

"They're free," Bill says.

"Can I have one?" I ask.

Guthrie says, "you know Adam won't let you have a puppy."

"Maybe he will once he sees how cute it is. These aren't wolves, are they?" I ask Bill.

Guthrie and Bill laugh at that. "They're labs," Bill says.

"Good, because if I bring home a wolf pup my brothers will shoot it!"

"These are all dogs. No wolf pups here," Bill says.

"Heidi, you can't have one," Guthrie reminds me.

"They're free," Bill says. "Just pick out the one you want."

I look at the puppies and try to pick one, but I can't. They're all so cute!

"You can't have one," Guthrie says.

"Why not? They're free," I tell him. I pick up one of the puppies with a white spot on his chest.

"Adam won't let you keep her," Guthrie says.

"What if we hide her?" I say.

Guthrie laughs. "How are you going to do that?" He asks.

"We could hide her in the back of the truck!"

"No we can't!"

"I'll hide her under my shirt, and we'll take her to the truck and cover her up with a jacket. No one will ever know!"

"Are you crazy?! That's the dumbest plan I've ever heard of! I'm not helping you with that plan! That has trouble written all over it!"

"Fine! I'll do it without your help!" I think for a minute. "I'll take the puppy to the truck right now, and you go tell Adam I wasn't feeling good so I went to rest in the truck."

"No! That's an even worse plan!"

"Then 'you' come up with a plan!" I yell at him.

He glares at me and says, "you can't have the puppy!"

"You don't know that! Maybe everybody will fall in love with him!"

I can her Bill laughing a little bit so I look at him. "Go ahead and take the puppy," he says. If your family won't let you keep him, bring him back. I'll be here." He takes a pipe out of his jacket pocket and a lighter.

I look at Guthrie and he stares back and shakes his head. Then he asks Bill what time it is.

"3:15."

Our eyes get big. "Guthrie! We have to hurry!"

"Let's go then! We'd better hurry!" Guthrie starts running and I follow behind him with the puppy.

"Thanks Bill!" I yell as I run off.

Guthrie stops running. "Put the puppy back! You can't keep it!"

"No! I'm keeping it!"

"If you bring the puppy they're gonna know we ran off!"

"Maybe Adam will like it and he'll think the puppy is so cute, he won't yell at us!"

"Heidi you're so stupid!"

"Hey! You're not supposed to call me that! Take it back!"

"Put the puppy back and I'll take it back," he says.

"No!"

"Then you're stupid! You're really, really, stupid!"

"I'm telling on you!"

"Go ahead!" Guthrie yells. "But I think everyone will agree with me that you are stupid for bringing a puppy back with you!"

"If I wasn't holding a puppy right now, I'd punch you!" I yell. "Hard!"

Guthrie starts running again.

"Wait for me!" I yell as I try to catch up. It's hard to run with a puppy in your arms, but I can keep up pretty well.

When we get back to the stables Guthrie stops running. I stop too and we look at the clock. 3:35.

"What do we do?" I ask.

"Are you sure you don't want to take the puppy back?" Guthrie asks.

I nod my head. "Will you help me hide him?"

"Ok. I'm sorry I called you stupid, but this isn't a good idea. Adam will never let you keep him. He might even be more mad when he sees the puppy."

"How could he be? He's so cute!"

"This puppy is a bad idea, Heidi. We have to go meet them now before it gets too late."

"Ok, I'll hide the puppy under my shirt."

"What's that gonna do? It'll just look like you're pregnant."

I laugh at that.

"Heidi! This isn't funny!"

"Look! Evan's over there!" I start running towards him and I hear Guthrie following me. "Evan! Evan! Look!" I run up and stop when I get to him.

Evan laughs when he sees me and the puppy. "What are you guys doing here? Does Adam know you're here?"

"No! Look at my puppy!" I hold it up for him to see. He pets him and the puppy licks his hand.

"What are you doing with a puppy?"

"He's mine."

"Adam's not gonna let you keep him," he says.

"That's what I told her," Guthrie says. "But she wouldn't listen to me."

"Evan, can you help me?" I ask.

"How?"

"Can you hide the puppy for me in the truck?"

"What?!" He laughs.

"Please? If Adam just gets used to him I bet he'll let me keep him." I smile up at Evan. "Please?"

"You can't hide the puppy in the truck for the rest of the day," he says.

"You could keep him in your hotel room. Please?" I beg.

"Alright. But Adam's not gonna let you keep him."

"Thank you!" I yell. I hand him the puppy.

"Heidi, we have to hurry if we're gonna make it back in time," Guthrie says.

"Oh, right. Bye Evan! Thank you!"

Guthrie and I start running off to the meeting place. I hope we make it in time.

* * *

No one's there yet. "We made it!" Guthrie says.

"Now what?" I ask.

"Now we wait."

"For what?"

"Just watch." We hide a little bit behind a picnic table where we can see both directions clearly. "There's Brian and Crane," Guthrie says.

"Now what do we do? I'm scared we're gonna get caught!"

"No we won't. Just wait. Look, there's Adam and Hannah."

I look in the other direction and see them coming. We're in the middle but they can't see each other yet because the walkway isn't straight. When they get closer and closer to where they almost meet Guthrie says, "you run to Adam and I'll run to Brian. Go!"

I take off towards Adam and Hannah. "Hi!" I yell when I get to them. I run to Adam and give him a hug and then I give Hannah one.

"How was the tractor exhibit?" Hannah asks.

"Boring!"

Guthrie, Brian and Crane are with us now. Guthrie and I smile at each other while they all talk to each other.

"Let's just hope they don't figure out what we did," Guthrie whispers to me.

"I know." I run over to Crane and hold his hand. "Can we buy the cowgirl hat now?" I ask him.

"Sure," he says.

"Yeah!" I pull him along to an area selling stuff. He laughs and lets me take him to a table with a bunch of hats. I find the tan one with purple on it and the horse charms. "This one!" I tell him and I put it on. I look up at him and smile. "Do you like it?"

He smiles and says yes. "Let me pay for it."

The others are here now. "Do you like it Hannah"

"I love it!" She says.

Evan finds us now and he doesn't have the puppy with him. I guess that's good, but where is it? I run up to him. "Where's the 'you know what'?" I ask him quietly.

"Ford's at the truck with him." He yells out to Adam, "me and Ford are gonna take the truck to the motel. We'll meet you there."

"I'll ride with you," Crane says.

"Aw, can't you go with them. It'll be too crowded in the truck," Evan says. He winks at me and I smile.

"You gotta take someone. We've got six people here," Adam says.

"I'd rather take Guthrie or Heidi then," he says.

"Let me go!" I yell.

"No, me!" Guthrie yells.

"Let me," I yell and I glare at Guthrie.

"I want to go!" Guthrie yells and glares at me.

"Hey!" Adam yells. "Knock it off! Guthrie, you go with them."

"Hey!" I yell as I watch Guthrie run off with Evan. "That's not fair! Why didn't you let me go with them?"

"Because I don't trust you to stay with them when they get to the hotel," Adam says.

Darn! I follow them out to the parking lot. "Where are we eating dinner?" I ask.

"There's a buffet at a hotel down the street from ours," Hannah says.

"Is that all Reno has for dinner? Hotels with buffets?"

My brothers laugh and Crane says, "buffets are cheap. It's all we can afford.

"What are we doing after that? Is Daniel's band playing again?"

"No," Hannah says. "I'm not sure what we're doing tonight."

When we get to the jeep I have to sit in the middle and on the backseat with Crane and Brian. I don't mind it too much because I'm tired. I lean against Crane and listen to everyone talk on our way back to the hotel.

* * *

When I run into the lobby of our hotel I yell, "I'm going up to Evan and Ford's room!"

"No you're not!" Adam yells. "Get back here!"

"Why?!" I stare at him with my hands on my hips.

"Knock it off Heidi. Get your hands off your hips and stop yelling," Adam says. "We're going to our room."

"Can I have the key? Can I open the door?" Adam gives me the key and I run off down the hall. "What room number are we?"

"118."

I find it and unlock the door. I run to the phone and dial Evan's room.

"Hello?"

"Hi Evan, it's me Heidi."

"I know it's you. What do you want?"

"How's the..." I make sure no one's in the room yet, "puppy?"

"Fine."

When Adam and Hannah walk in I ask, "can I go upstairs to Evan and Ford's room?"

"No," Adam says, "and if that's Evan tell him I want Guthrie to come down here."

"Adam wants Guthrie," I tell Evan. "Bye." I hang up the phone and ask Adam, "when can I go up to Evan and Ford's room?"

"Why do you want to go up there so bad?"

I stare at him and I can't think of anything to say.

"Now I'm curious," he says. "Why do you want to go up there?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know."

"Something tells me that's a lie."

"Well, it's not." I say. "If I can't go upstairs what are we gonna do instead?"

"Talk."

I groan and fall backwards onto the bed. "About what?"

"Questions you might have."

I sit up and look at him. "About what?"

"You know about...," he looks at Hannah who's been sitting at the table very quietly.

"About sex!" I yell.

"Sh! Yes."

There's a knock at the door and I run to open it and let Guthrie in. "Guess what?! We're gonna talk about sex!" I tell him.

Guthrie looks at Adam and says, "really? Why do I have to be here? I already know everything."

"No you don't," I say. "I bet you don't know what the balloon thing is."

"It's not a balloon, it's a con..,"

"Guthrie!" Adam yells.

"What? Aren't you gonna tell her what it really is?" He asks.

"What is it?" I ask. "It's not a balloon? Then what do you do with it?"

"Adam, I already know all this stuff. Do I have to be here? We even learned some of this stuff at school," Guthrie says.

"I guess not. Why don't you go next door," he says.

"Thank you!" Guthrie runs out of the room and I can hear him knocking on the door next door.

I sit cross legged on my bed and look at Adam. He sits on the other bed facing me and Hannah comes and sits down next to him. Neither one of them says anything, they just stare at me.

"Well?" I say.

"Well, what question do you have?" Hannah asks.

"Question? You mean 'questions'!" I tell her. "First off, I thought babies were made when you have sex. How come Brian doesn't have any babies, because I think he has sex a lot. What does protection mean and what was that balloon thing? Why does Brian have sex a lot. I thought you were only supposed to have sex when you're married. How come...,"

"Wait, slow down!" Hannah says. She's laughing and I look at her and then I look at Adam. His eyes are big and he looks nervous and he's not saying anything. Hannah says, "let's start with one question at a time."

"What's the balloon thing?"

Adam looks nervous and he doesn't look at me when he says, "it's not a balloon." That's all he says.

"Well, what is it then?"

He still doesn't look at me. "Um..., ah...,it's a..., what other questions do you have?" He looks at me when he says that.

"Just that one question for right now." I tell him.

He looks at Hannah and she says, "it's something you'll learn about when you're older."

I glare at them now. "I thought you were gonna answer my questions."

"We are," Hannah says. "It's just, some questions are different than others."

"What?" I don't understand that at all.

"Well, there's a lot of things you don't understand right now," she says.

I wait for her to say more about that and when I realize she's not I say, "right. That's why you're supposed to be answering my questions. You know, the questions I have about sex."

"Right," Hannah says and then she looks at Adam.

"Oh come on!" I yell. "What's the balloon thing?"

"Quit calling it a balloon!" Adam yells. "It's not a balloon!"

"Then tell me what it is!"

Adam stands up and starts pacing.

"Why are you pacing?" I ask him. "Do 'you' know what the balloon thing is?"

He stops pacing. "Yes I know what the balloon th..., yes I know what it is!"

"Do you have one?" I ask.

He quickly answers, "no!"

I glare at him. "Are you sure about that? Are you just saying that because you know I'll want to see it if you have one?"

"No. I really don't have one."

"Why? Why does Brian have a bunch of them and you have none?" I look at Hannah and see her smile for just a second. "Does Crane have one? Does Daniel, Evan or Ford have one? How about Guthrie?"

"No! Guthrie doesn't have one!"

"Why not?"

"Because he doesn't have sex!" Adam yells.

"How do you know?"

Adam puts his hands up in the air and says, "I can't do this!"

"Sit down Adam," Hannah says. He sits next to her and she puts her arm around him. "You can do this," she tells him.

"Are you sure about that?" I ask her. "Because so far I've only asked 'one' question and you haven't even answered it yet."

They both look at me. Adam rubs his forehead with his hand. "Ok, I can do this. I've had this talk with Daniel, Evan, Ford, and Guthrie." He looks at me and I think he's talking to himself now because he says, "but, they're boys. Heidi's a girl. And she's ten. I didn't have this conversation with the boys until they were twelve." I watch Hannah put her hand on his arm.

"Adam," she says and he looks at her. "You can do this." She smiles at him and then she says to me, "Heidi, we'll try to answer all your questions, but you are still only ten years old and there's a lot you're not ready to learn about."

"Why?"

"Because you're ten."

"You're not gonna answer any of my questions are you?" Neither one of them says anything. "How come you're not talking Adam?" I ask. He just stares at me and doesn't say a word. "Ok, can you answer this question, I thought having sex is what makes a baby?"

"Right," Hannah says.

"Then how come Brian doesn't have a baby? Did he not want the baby?"

"Women don't get pregnant every time they have sex," Hannah says.

"Why not?"

When I ask that question, Hannah turns to Adam like she wants him to answer that question. I look at him and wait for an answer.

"They just don't," he says.

"But why not?" I ask again.

"Heidi, there are things you don't know about your body yet, and..," Adam says.

"What things?"

"Just things!" I can tell Adam is getting frustrated again and Hannah puts her hand on his arm. "Things that you'll learn when you're older."

"Why can't I learn them now? I'm ten."

"You're still too young," he says. "All you need to know is girls don't get pregnant every time they have sex."

"Brian's girlfriend said she wasn't pregnant because they used protection. What does that mean?"

Now Hannah looks nervous too. She looks at Adam and he says, "um,..,"

"Um, Heidi," Adam says so I look at him and listen carefully because he's talking in a very quiet voice, "protection is...protection is something...well, it's just something you'll learn about when you're older."

"Why do I have to wait until I'm older?"

Hannah and Adam are quiet as they stare at me. "You're just not old enough to learn about certain things," Adam says.

"What 'certain' things?"

Adam sighs. "Just things."

The telephone rings and startles us. I jump up and answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hi Heidi," Crane says. "Ask Adam and Hannah if they're ready to go."

"Crane wants to know if you're ready to go," I tell him.

"Yes!" They both yell together.

I tell Crane that and hang up the phone. Adam and Hannah get up and grab their jackets. Before they can get to the door I run over to it and stand in front of it. I put my hands on my hips and say, "so far you haven't answered 'any' of my questions! You keep telling me I'm too young to know! You guys better talk to each other some more and figure out what you're gonna tell me, because I have 'a lot' of questions and the answer can't be 'I'm too young to know' for all of them!" I open the door quickly and stomp out into the hallway just as Guthrie, Brian and Crane are coming out of the other room.

"I called Daniel, Evan and Ford and they're meeting us in the lobby," Guthrie says.

We walk down the hallway and I pull at Guthrie's arm so we can walk behind everyone.

"What?" Guthrie asks.

"Adam and Hannah tried to answer my questions about sex," I whisper.

Guthrie laughs and whispers, "I know, what did they say?"

"Nothing!" I say out loud. Then I whisper, "they kept saying I was too young to know!"

We meet Daniel, Evan and Ford in the lobby and we all go outside to walk to the hotel we're eating at. Guthrie and I stay behind everyone so we can talk.

"Guthrie do you know what that balloon thing was that I took from Brian?"

"Yes."

"Will you 'please' tell me what it is? Please?"

"No way! I don't want to explain that to you!"

"Why not?!" I ask.

"Because you're my sister and that would be weird!"

"Why?! What is it?"

"Stop asking me Heidi, I'm not gonna tell you what it is!"

"Well, 'somebody' better tell me what it is!" I yell as loud as I can. Some of my brothers turn around to look at me when I say that so I yell, "I want to know what that balloon thing is! Will one of you guys please tell me?!"

Adam stops walking and turns around. "We'll finish our talk later, and until then I don't want to hear about any of that."

I glare at Adam when he turns back around and starts walking again. "Guthrie, he's not gonna tell me anything, is he?"

"I don't know." He says. Then he bends down and picks a piece of paper up off the ground. He looks at it for a minute and starts to laugh. "Hey, look at this!" He gives it to me.

I read, "live, nude girls! Every night at Harrah's!" There's a picture of a girl wearing nothing but a pair of black panties and her arms are folded across her chest so they cover up her breasts. "What is this?!" Guthrie grabs it out of my hand.

"Hey Ford!" He yells and runs up to him. "Look at this!" Guthrie shoves the paper at Ford and Guthrie asks, "what's a Harrah's?"

I stop walking and pull on Guthrie's arm. "Look," I say while pointing upwards. I'm stopped in front of a hotel. A hotel Adam, Brian, Hannah, and Crane are walking into. The name on the hotel is Harrah's.


	18. Chapter 18

We walk into Harrah's and I look around. It's kind of like the Hilton Hotel. There's a bunch of slot machines and lots of noises. I have to stop walking and look around.

"Guthrie! Look at the elevator!" The elevator is all glass. When it goes up you can look out and see the lobby all the way on your ride to the top. "There's more than one!" I yell.

"Stop yelling," Hannah says. "Stay with us, the restaurant is over here."

"It's on the first floor?" Guthrie asks.

"Yes."

I look over to where we're going and see a big line. "Hannah, can we go up the elevator while we're waiting?" I ask. "Please?"

"I guess so. Just one trip up and back down again, ok?"

"Ok!" Both Guthrie and I yell, and then we say it quieter. We run over to the hallway where you get in the elevator and I press the button. The elevator is already here on the first floor so the doors open right away. We run in and Guthrie presses the top button.

"Whoa! Heidi, there's thirty floors!"

"Wow! Press all the buttons!"

"No, you don't want to do that on the way up," he says. "We want to go straight up without stopping. We'll press them on the way down."

"Oh, right."

The doors close and the elevator goes up. We look down below and laugh as everything in the lobby gets smaller. When we reach the thirtieth floor the doors open.

"Let's ride a different one down," Guthrie says.

"Ok!" I yell. We run out of the elevator and when the doors close I press the down button out in the hall. The elevator doors open to the one we just rode up in.

"Don't press the button until this one goes down." The doors close and we look at the number above the door. It stays on thirty. "It's not gonna go down until someone presses the button downstairs." We wait a while and the doors of another elevator open and someone gets out. Then Guthrie yells, "you ride that one down and I'll ride this one. Press all the buttons and we'll see who gets downstairs first!"

"Ok!" We each get in an elevator and I press all the buttons. The doors close and I turn and look at Guthrie in the elevator next to mine. We smile and wave at each other. When the elevators start to go down we both jump up as high as we can. When I come down I lose my balance a little because the elevator is a little lower than when I jumped up. We do that on every floor. Luckily no one has gotten on our elevators. There's four of them so maybe that's why.

When we reach the seventh floor I'm feeling pretty dizzy from all the jumping and losing my balance. When the doors close and I jump up after the elevator starts moving, I fall against the side of the elevator where all the buttons are. All of a sudden my elevator stops fast and makes me fall down. There's a loud ringing sound that sounds like the fire alarm at school! I look down at Guthrie.

"What do I do?!" I yell. He can't hear me and his elevator keeps going down to the rest of the floors. I start pressing buttons. I press _all_ the buttons. How do I turn this alarm off?! Nothing works. All of a sudden I hear a quiet voice. It's hard to hear because of the alarm.

"What's your emergency?" I think I hear.

"What?!" I yell out. "I can barely hear you!"

"Please say your emergency," the voice says.

"I'm stuck!"

"What is your emergency?" The voice says again.

"I told you! I'm stuck!"

"Please press the intercom button," the voice says.

"Where is it?!" I yell.

"Please press the intercom button," the voice says again.

"I heard you! I don't know where it is!" I yell.

"Please press the intercom button."

"Where is it! Where is it! Where is it!" I yell. I look behind me and down to the lobby. Guthrie's down there looking up at me and so are a lot of other people. Including the rest of my family. I look closer and I can see Adam talking to someone that works at the hotel, except I think he's yelling and he keeps pointing up here. I sit down on the floor and cover my ears so I don't have to hear that stupid voice that keeps saying, 'please press the intercom button', over and over. It also makes the alarm sound a little quieter. This alarm has been on forever! I wish someone would just turn it off!

When it finally turns off I sigh. "Thank you!" I yell up to the ceiling. A little while after that I feel a jolt from the elevator and it starts going down again. I look at the buttons and none of them are lit up anymore so the elevator goes straight down. When it stops at the lobby and the doors open I stand up and hug Adam because he's right there in the doorway.

"Are you ok?" He asks.

"Yes. I was a little scared," I tell him.

"I bet you were." He hugs me a little while longer and then says, "come on, let's go get in line again. I'm starved," he says.

We walk into the lobby and Guthrie walks over to us and says, "are you ok Heidi?"

"Yes."

Adam kneels down so he can see both of us and we can look into his eyes. "I'm only going to tell you guys this once," he says in a serious voice. "Quit fooling around! Stop doing things you _know_ you're not supposed to do!"

"What are you talking about?" Guthrie asks.

"The elevator game!" He says.

"I don't know what you're..," I start to say, but I stop when I see the look on Adam's face.

"I know the game you were playing," he says, "and I want you to stop fooling around like that. We want to go bowling after dinner and you two aren't going to be bowling if you keep doing things you're not supposed to do!"

"We're gonna go bowling?!" I ask excitedly.

"I don't know if _you_ are. I'm going to be watching you carefully and looking for you to follow rules and mind your manners. If I see you guys behaving, then you can bowl."

"How'd you know we were playing the elevator game?" I ask.

"Think about it," Adam says. He stares at me. I think as hard as I can, but nothing pops into my mind.

Guthrie says, "it's a glass elevator."

I have to think some more until I finally say, "oh."

Guthrie laughs and says, "it took you long enough!"

"Hey!" I grab Guthrie's baseball cap and start to run off while laughing, when I feel Adam hold my arm so I can't go anywhere. I look back at him and see he's got Guthrie by the arm too.

"See, you're already fooling around! We're inside a fancy hotel. Use good manners. We're not back on the ranch. Quit acting like a bunch of yahoos!"

We laugh at that and I give Guthrie his hat back. We walk over to the restaurant and get in line with everyone else. Hannah asks if I'm ok and I tell her yes. Daniel, Evan and Ford are telling elevator stories and I listen until I get bored because I've heard some of them before. This line is long! I see a few empty chairs close by and go sit in one. Guthrie comes and sits next to me.

We talk about the puppy for a little bit, and then about how we were lucky we didn't get caught going off on our own today. Then we're silent. I don't think the line is moving at all. Adam comes and sits on the other side of me so I lean against him and he puts his arm around me. I close my eyes and think about the sex talk Adam and Hannah had with me and how they didn't give me any answers. Then I think about that piece of paper with the half naked girl on it.

"Adam, what does live, nude girls mean?"

Guthrie kicks me and Adam says, "what did you just say?"

"I said, what are 'live nude girls'?"

Guthrie kicks me again harder so I jab him hard in his side.

Adam stands up and lifts me high enough to take me off my chair and put me on his. Then he sits down in the middle of us. "What are you talking about?" He asks.

I say it slower, "liiiiiive, nuuuuuude, girrrrrrrls."

"I don't know what that means," he says.

"Harrah's Hotel says they have live, nude girls every night. What does that mean?"

"What?! Where did you hear that?"

"It said that on a piece of paper," I tell him.

"Oh," he says quietly.

"What does it mean? Are there dead, nude girls?"

Guthrie laughs at that and says, "you're funny Heidi! Why would they have dead, nude girls?!"

"Why would they have _live_ nude girls?" I ask. "If they're telling you the girls are _live_ wouldn't that mean some people want them to be dead?"

Guthrie keeps on laughing and Adam is quiet.

"Adam?" I ask. I look up at him and he's staring straight out into space. Hannah walks over and says, "what's wrong Adam?"

"He's thinking about my question," I tell her. "I guess he doesn't know the answer."

"Well, why don't you ask me," she says.

Guthrie starts cracking up again and says, "yeah Heidi, ask her!"

I look up at Hannah and say, "what are live, nude girls?"

"What?" Hannah asks.

"I _said_, what are 'live, nude girls."

Now Hannah's staring into space. Crane comes over and says, "what's so funny Guthrie? You've been cracking up for the last five minutes."

"It's Heidi!" He says. "She's asking a funny question! Adam and Hannah aren't answering it."

"I guess they don't know the answer. Maybe you know!" I look up at him hopefully.

Guthrie laughs more and says, "maybe you should ask _all_ your brothers!" He gets up and takes my hand and Crane's and pulls us over to my brothers. "Heidi has a question for you that Adam and Hannah don't know how to answer!" He yells.

They all look at me so I say, "what does live, nude girls mean?"

"What?" Evan asks. They're all staring at me like they didn't hear me.

"What does live, nude girls mean?" I ask again and they all start laughing. "Why is that so funny?"

"_They're_ going to have to answer that question for you, Heidi," Brian says while nodding over to Adam and Hannah.

I look over at them and they're both sitting next to each other talking so I walk over to them.

"Do you have an answer yet?" I ask.

"We'll talk about it later," Adam says.

We hear our name being called, "McFadden, party of nine. "McFadden?"

Adam and Hannah stand up and I start walking behind my brothers but I hear Adam quietly tell Hannah, "I am _never_ leaving Heidi home without me again and I am _never_ taking her to a place like Reno ever again!"

* * *

The buffet here at Harrah's is just like the one at the Hilton. I only put a little bit of food on my plate and I go back for seconds and thirds. I'm gonna follow all the rules from now until it's time to go bowling, because I want to play, not watch. I use my good manners at the table and I don't yell or laugh too loud and I don't run to where the food is. I notice Guthrie is doing the same thing as me. The only problem? We're done eating _way_ before everyone else!

Guthrie and I are sitting across from each other in the middle of the table. We look at each other and Guthrie mouths, "this is taking forever!"

"I know!" I mouth back. We can't do anything. We can't play any of the games we usually play while we wait for everyone to finish, because they usually end up with us being too wild or breaking something. We can't ask to leave the table either because we already know what the answer to that is. I push my plate and silverware out of the way and put my head down on the table.

"What are you doing Heidi?" Adam asks.

I lift my head up a little bit. "Waiting," I say.

"For what?" He asks.

"For you guys to finish eating. We've been sitting here forever and I'm trying so hard to be good, but this is driving me crazy! I have to get up and do something!"

Everyone laughs and Adam says, "you are being very good. I've been watching you. You too, Guthrie." We smile and he says, "if someone is finished eating they can take you downstairs to where the bowling alley is and you can wait for us there."

"Really?!" I yell. Oops, I cover my mouth with my hand.

"I'm done," Ford says. "I can take them downstairs."

Guthrie and I jump up and Adam says, "wait a minute." We look at him and he says, "if you wander off from Ford or do _anything_ you know you're not supposed to do, you'll be _watching us_ bowl. Understand?"

"Yes!" We both say.

We follow Ford out of the restaurant and out into the lobby. When Ford starts walking to the elevator I say, "I don't want to take the elevator!"

"Ok, let's find the stairs," Ford says.

The stairs are close to the elevator so we open the door and run down them to the bottom floor. We like being with Ford because he runs down the stairs too. When we open the door I look around.

"Where are we?" I ask. We're standing in a huge long hallway. There are two closed doors on our right with a sign on them that says, "do not open! Show in progress."

"There's a show down here?" Guthrie asks.

"I guess so," Ford says.

"What kind of show? Like a movie or something?" I ask.

"I don't know," Ford says.

"Where's the bowling alley?" Guthrie asks.

"Down this way I think."

We follow Ford down the hallway and I see a girl's bathroom. "Ford, I have to go to the bathroom."

"Ok, we'll wait right here for you." There's a bench against the wall and they sit down on it.

I walk in and freeze. This bathroom is huge! But that's not why I'm frozen. Standing right in front of one of the sinks is a lady dressed in a sparkly bikini, she's wearing the highest high heels I have ever seen, and she has long peacock feathers coming out of the back of her bikini and a huge fan of peacock feathers on her head. Wow!

She sees me staring at her and says, "sorry kid. The bathroom backstage is too crowded."

I don't know what to say at first. I can't think of any words and then I finally say, "what _are_ you?!"

She laughs and says, "I'm a chorus girl."

"What's _that_?"

"I'm part of the show. I sing and dance."

"What kind of show is _that_?"

"It's a variety show."

I don't know what she's talking about, but I don't care. I can't stop staring at her.

"You're the girl in the picture!" I yell. "You're the live, nude girl!"

She laughs at that and says, "I guess I am."

"What _are_ you?"

"What do you mean?" She asks.

"_What_ is a live, nude girl?"

"Oh. We put on a show."

"But you're not nude," I tell her.

"No, not right now. During the show I take my top off. Not the bottoms, just the top. I never take the bottoms off."

"Why do you take your top off?!" I can't believe it! I stare at her with my mouth open.

"It's part of the show. All the girls do it."

"Why?!"

"That's what people like," she says.

"What people? What do you mean?"

"How old are you?" She asks.

"Ten."

"Oh. You've got a lot to learn sweetie. Wait until you're about twelve. You'll understand then." She looks in the mirror and puts lipstick on. When she's done she turns around and says, "bye."

I watch her walk out of the bathroom. She's so tall with those heels on and the feathers on the back of her bikini bottom move when she walks. When she's out the door I walk out behind her and see Guthrie and Ford staring at her with their mouths open and their eyes wide.

"Oh my gosh!" I hear Hannah say. I look down the hall and see the rest of my family walking towards us. Brian, Crane, Daniel and Evan are watching the lady and smiling, Hannah's, looking at me and she looks nervous, and Adam is shaking his head while he rubs his forehead with his hand. When they get to us Guthrie asks, "_who_ was _that_?!"

"_That_," I say loudly, "was a liiiiive, nuuuuuuude, girrrrrrl!"

Everyone except for Hannah and Adam laugh at that and Evan says, "I wish we were staying at _this_ hotel!"

"I know!" Crane says.

"Stop it!" Hannah says and she slaps Crane's arm gently. She's not mad. "We came down here to bowl, so let's go bowl!"

"Forget bowling!" Brian says. "I want to see the show!" Everyone but Adam and Hannah laugh and agree with them. Adam looks like he's in shock and Hannah says, "you boys are acting like a bunch of yahoos! Snap out of it! You're in the presence of two ladies. One who happens to be your _little_ sister!"

That gets them to stop and they apologize to Hannah.

"That lady isn't a lady?" I ask Hannah.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that," Hannah says. "She's a lady. A beautiful lady. But the way your brothers are acting," she looks at them and glares, "is _not_ the way _gentlemen_ act in front of ladies."

They apologize again and we start walking down the hall towards the bowling alley.

"Wait!" I yell. "I have to go to the bathroom!" I forgot to do that because I was distracted by the pretty lady.

"I'll go in with you," Hannah says. "In case more pretty ladies come in." She follows me into the bathroom.

* * *

The bowling alley isn't like our bowling alley at home because this one is huge!

"Wow! There must be over a hundred lanes in here!" I yell.

"There's twenty-six," Adam says.

"Still, that's a lot!" I look around some more. "Why are there slot machines down here?"

"There are slot machines everywhere in Reno, Heidi," Crane says.

"How many are bowling?" Adam asks. "Everyone?"

Everyone says yes and we all go with him to pay so we can get our bowling shoes. "What do you want to drink Heidi?" Brian asks after he has his shoes on.

"Coke," I tell him.

He goes off to the bar to get some drinks and Crane and Adam go with him. Guthrie and I go around trying to find the lightest balls. Even the lightest ball is too heavy for me though. I'm not good at bowling so it doesn't really mater how heavy the ball is, and even though I can't bowl, I still love doing it. It's fun to watch everyone else bowl. We find the lightest balls and go over to our lanes. We always play two teams against each other and nobody ever wants me on their team. They usually don't want Guthrie either, but he's getting better at bowling. The teams are uneven tonight, but it doesn't mater because usually they don't keep track of my score.

I sit at the score table next to Evan. "Can I keep score?"

"No," he says while he writes our names down.

"I know how to now," I tell him.

"No you don't!" He says and laughs.

He's right. "Can I go first?" I ask.

"No. You're last."

"I'm always last!"

"Yep!" He says.

I get up and go sit in a chair by my lane. Adam, Brian, Hannah and Guthrie are on my team. They're all good at bowling. All of my brothers are good at bowling. I watch everyone take their turns. We all have fun cheering everyone on and teasing the other team. When it's my turn I walk up to the line and throw the ball underhand and bang it on the lane where it rolls a few feet right into the gutter. Darn! That's usually where my ball always rolls to. Occasionally my ball will make it to the end where the pins are and knock a few down. I love it when that happens.

We're about halfway through our first game when I start to get bored. When it's my turn and I throw the ball it lands right in the gutter with a thud and doesn't go anywhere. It's only a few feet from me so I walk out onto the lane to get it. I forget how slippery it is and that I'm not supposed to walk on it until I slip and fall on my butt. It makes me laugh and everyone laughs too.

Brian comes over and says, "get over here." I pick up my ball and scoot so I'm back where I'm supposed to be. He lifts me up by my armpits and helps me hold my ball and he swings my arm back and then forward and we let go of the ball. It slowly rolls all the way to the pins and knocks two down. "Yes!" I yell and me and Brian high-five. He helps me with my next roll and I knock one more down.

By the time my next turn comes around I'm pretty hyper. I'm on my third Coke and I feel like I'm bouncing off the walls. Guthrie is too. When he's done with his turn I get my ball and decide to throw it right by not standing at the line and throwing, but instead taking steps to the line and throwing it. I run the steps fast and hold my ball over my head with both hands and chuck it. It's hard to aim with a heavy ball so it drops in the other lane with a loud thud.

"Sorry!" I yell at Daniel, because it lands in front of his ball knocking it into the gutter. Me and Guthrie laugh.

"I think someone's had too much soda," Hannah says.

"I think someone better take a time out for a minute," Adam says.

I glare at him and put my hands on my hips. "Who's _someone_?"

"Get over here!" He yells, but his eyes are smiling. I run and jump on his lap accidentally bumping his chin with my head. We both say ow and Adam says, "calm down. Just sit for a while and watch." I lean against his chest and he puts his arms around me.

I look around and see Brian in the bar getting some drinks. He's talking to a girl at the bar. "It's Brian's turn!" Guthrie yells. "Brian! Your turn!"

"He can't hear you!" Ford says.

"I'll go tell him," Crane says. I watch him walk into he bar and now he's talking to the girl too, and a second girl comes over.

"Adam? Are Brian and Crane gonna bring those girls back to their room?"

"What?" He says.

"In the bar," I say. "Are they going to bring those girls back to their hotel room?"

Adam sighs. "I don't know Heidi."

"If you weren't married to Hannah would you bring one of those girls back to _your_ room?"

"No!" He says quickly.

"Good answer," Hannah says.

Brian and Crane come back over with new beers and I notice the two girls follow and sit behind our lanes watching us. Brian takes his turn and he smiles back at them before he throws the ball. It's a strike! I look at the girls and they're smiling really big at him. The same thing happens when Crane takes his turn. The girls smile really big at him too.

"Are they gonna bring _both_ girls back to their room?" I ask.

It's Adam's turn so he doesn't answer me. Instead he slides me off his lap and I get on Hannah's lap. "Hannah, if you weren't married to Adam, and you met him at a bar, would you go to his hotel room?"

She doesn't answer me at first. But then she says, "let's bowl right now and save all the questions for later tonight." It's her turn now so I get on Brian's lap. I look over at the girls and I can hear them say, "aw, how cute!" They give me a little wave so I smile back and give them the same little wave back. "Oh brother!" I say quietly.

"What?" Brian asks.

"Nothing."

* * *

When we're walking back to our hotel Guthrie and I run ahead of everyone. "I wonder what the puppy is doing," I say.

"Yeah, I hope it's not too hungry," Guthrie says. "Evan said he put some of his dinner in a napkin for him."

"I hope Adam let's me go up to their room," I say. We stop and wait for everyone outside the doors of our hotel. When they get here I ask Adam if I can go to Evan's room.

"Not right now. We have an important talk to finish," he says.

"Can I go up there for just a few minutes?"

"Why do you want to go up there so much?" He asks.

I stare up at him and I don't know what to say. Finally I say, "I don't know, I just do. I want to see if it's the same as ours."

He opens the door to our room and Hannah goes inside.

"Pleeeeease?" I ask. I give him my biggest smile.

"No. I don't feel like going up there and you're not going up there by yourself."

"What if Brian or Crane went with me?" I ask. I smile at Brian and Crane as they stand outside their room.

"Can't," Brian says. "Sorry kiddo, we're going out."

"With the girls from the bowling alley?"

Crane's cheeks get pink. "Maybe," he says.

"Oh brother!" I say and I roll my eyes.

"Can I go upstairs?" Guthrie asks.

"Just wait a sec. I need to talk to these guys," Adam says. He follows them into their room and shuts the door. Guthrie and I sit down in the hallway. We want to hear what they talk about.

"I bet they're gonna talk about those girls," Guthrie whispers.

We scoot close to the door and put our ear against it and listen.

"Where are you going?" Adam asks.

"Roadhouse Bar. It's the best country bar in town," Brian says. "At least that's what Brandy said."

"When are you coming back?"

"Jeez, what's with the third degree?" Brian asks.

"I just want to make sure Heidi or Guthrie don't _accidentally_ see something they shouldn't like last night!" Adam yells.

"Relax," Crane says. "We'll be careful."

"You'd better be," Adam says. "I don't want to have to answer even more questions than I already have to. I have enough to explain already. I don't think I can hold her off for much longer."

"You should of talked to her at the fairgrounds today when you went to the cow exhibit with them. At least there she'd be distracted by stuff." Crane says.

Guthrie and I look at each other. "Uh-oh!" He whispers.

"What did you just say?" Adam asks.

"I said at least she would've been distracted," Crane says.

"No. The part about them being at the cow exhibit."

"What about it?"

"They weren't with me, they were with _you_ at the tractor exhibit."

"No, I think we would've remembered that," Brian says. "They weren't with us."

"What do you mean they weren't with you?! Who were they with then?!" Adam yells.

"Run!" Guthrie says.

We both get up and run down the hallway. "Where are we going?!" I yell.

"To Evan's room! Hurry!" Guthrie yells as we run through the lobby and to the stairs on the other side of the hotel.


	19. Chapter 19

**I have been trying to post this last chapter for hours but fanfiction was NOT working for me. (Very frustrating!) I like to update my stories quickly because I really like writing them, but last chapters are always hard for me. I never want the story to end, but I guess it has to, so sorry this chapter has taken a long time for me to write. Thanks for reading and I hope you have been enjoying the story.**

* * *

Guthrie and I bang on Evan and Ford's hotel room. "Open up! Evan! Ford! Open up!"

"Hold on!" We hear Evan yell. We keep knocking until he opens the door. We push him back and Guthrie slams the door shut behind us. Evan is laughing and says, "what are you guys doing?!"

"Quick! You have to hide us!" Guthrie yells. Ford is laughing too.

"From what?"

"From Adam!" I yell.

"Why? What'd you guys do?" Evan asks.

"Nothing! Just don't tell him we're here!" Guthrie says.

"Nothing?" Ford asks. He laughs and says, "it sure doesn't seem like nothing." He hugs me and says, "calm down. I'm sure it's not that bad."

"It is!" I cry.

"It's gonna be ok," Evan says. "Here, hold him."

I look up and Evan hands me the puppy. I take him and hug him close to me. "He's so cute," I say.

"We have to keep him in the bathroom," Evan says.

"Yeah, he was chewing on all our stuff," Ford says.

The puppy is so happy. He licks my face and then settles down in my lap while I sit on the bed. Guthrie sits next to me and pets him. Evan and Ford sit down on the bed across from us.

"Tell us what happened," Evan says.

"We're in trouble," I tell him.

"We know that," Ford says. "What happened?"

The phone rings and Ford answers it. "Hello?" He listens for a minute and then covers the talking part of the phone with his hand and whispers, "it's Adam! He wants to know if we've seen you!"

"Tell him no!" I yell.

Guthrie slaps his hand over my mouth and says, "Sh! He'll hear you!"

Ford hangs up the phone.

"What'd he say?" Guthrie asks.

"He said he's coming up here!"

Guthrie and I get up fast and I give the puppy to Evan. We run to the door and Ford squeezes by us and blocks the door. We try to pull him away from it but he's stronger. "Move!" I yell and I kick him right in the leg.

"Ow! Don't do that!"

"Then move!" I yell again and I'm about ready to kick him again when I feel Evan pull me away.

"Stop!" Evan yells. Guthrie is still trying to open the door. Evan has me lifted up off the ground with his arms around my waist. I start kicking my legs and throwing my fists around. "Stop it Heidi!" He yells and before I know it he has me pinned to the floor.

"Let me up!" I yell. I look over at Guthrie. "Help me!" I yell to him but he can't because Ford has him pinned. He's yelling too. I wrestle all the time with my brothers so I'm used to getting pinned. "Stop Evan!"

"No! Calm down first! You too Guthrie! Calm down, Adam's gonna be here soon!" Evan yells.

"That's why we want to go!" I yell.

"You can't run away from him forever!" Ford yells.

"Why not?!"

"Because you can't! Now calm down and we'll help you figure out what to do!" Evan yells.

"Ok!" Guthrie says. "Let me get up!" Ford lets him sit up.

"Are you done?" Evan asks me. I struggle to get away and Evan keeps me pinned and I start to cry. "Uncle!" I yell.

Evan sighs. "Heidi, I don't believe you."

"Uncle!" I cry again so he lets up. I try to get away but he pins me hard again.

"Come on Heidi, calm down and talk to me," Evan says.

Guthrie and Ford come over and Guthrie says, "Heidi calm down. Evan, we went off on our own today and Adam just found out."

"Are you guys crazy!" Evan yells. "I thought he just found out about the puppy!"

"No. He thought we were with Brian and Crane today, and they thought we were with Adam and Hannah. We went off by ourselves. We tricked all four of them," Guthrie says.

"Oh my gosh!" Ford says.

"What do we do?" Guthrie asks.

"I don't know. You guys messed up big time," Evan says.

"Yeah," Ford says.

"You have to help us!" I cry.

"I don't know how to."

There's a loud knock on the door and Adam yells, "open up!"

"No don't do it!" I yell to Evan and Ford.

"We have to," Ford says. "It's Adam."

Evan gets off me and I get up and pull Guthrie into the bathroom with me and I slam the door shut and lock it.

"Aw come on!" Evan yells. "Get out of there! You're just gonna make it worse!"

"Open the door now!" Adam yells.

"Don't do it! Don't do it!" I yell from the bathroom.

I hear the door open and Adam yells, "where are they?!"

"They locked themselves in the bathroom," Ford says.

"Get out here now!" Adam yells and the door knob starts rattling.

"No!" I yell. "You're mad!"

"If you think I'm mad now, wait 'till you see how mad I'm gonna be if you don't open the dang door right now!"

Guthrie looks at me and says, "Heidi, don't talk. Let me do all the talking." I nod my head.

"Adam?" Guthrie says. He's talking in a normal voice. "Can you stop yelling?"

"What?!"

"Heidi's scared and I kind of am too," he says.

"You should be! I am so mad at you two! You're scared because you got caught! You weren't scared earlier tonight when you thought you got away with it!"

I hear Evan say, "Adam, can Ford and I go? We kind of had plans."

"Yeah, you can go."

I hear the door being shut and then Adam says, "you two better open that door now or I'm gonna break it down! And trust me, you don't want me to do that!"

Guthrie and I don't know what to do and then the puppy starts crying! "Sh!" I whisper and he barks.

"What is that?!" Adam yells. "Do you have a dog in there?!"

The puppy starts barking a lot now. "Sh!" I keep telling him to be quiet but he won't stop barking.

"Why is there a dog in there?!" When we don't answer he yells, "open the door now!"

Guthrie and I look at each other. "We're gonna have to open it sometime," Guthrie whispers.

"Well, it doesn't have to be right now," I whisper back.

"Open the door," Adam says. He's not yelling now but he doesn't sound happy.

"Only if you promise not to yell!" I yell. "Or be mad!"

"What?!" Adam yells.

"I _said_, only if you..,"

"Heidi, stop talking!" Guthrie says. "You're just gonna make him start yelling again!"

"Open the door. I'm not yelling now, but if you don't open the door soon, I'm gonna start yelling again," Adam says.

"Ok, but you have to call Hannah and tell her to come up here. That way she can keep you from getting too mad. Get her, and _then_ we'll open the door," I tell him.

"What?!" Adam yells. "Don't you tell me what to do! Open this door right now!"

"Why do you have to open your stupid mouth all the time!" Guthrie yells at me. "I'm opening the door because you're just gonna keep saying stuff that's gonna make him madder!"

"No don't!" I yell as Guthrie unlocks the door and tries to open it but I push on it to keep it closed.

"Stop Heidi!" Guthrie yells as he keeps trying to open the door. Adam pushes on the door so it's open now and I quickly pick up the puppy and sit on the bathroom floor while Guthrie goes out into the room.

"What's that?!" Adam asks when he sees the puppy.

I look up at him and say, "he's my puppy." I hold the puppy up a little and say, "isn't he cute?"

Adam glares at me and says, "put the puppy down and get up."

"Why?" I ask, and I wish I could take it back as I see Adam's face go from mad to madder. "Ok, I'm sorry I said that! I'll get up!" I yell as Adam quickly moves the puppy off my lap and stands me up. He grabs my arm and leads me into the bedroom and sits me on the bed next to Guthrie. Then he sits across from us on the other bed.

"We're sorry Adam," Guthrie says.

Adam just glares at us. He doesn't say anything at first and then he asks, "where did you guys go today?"

We just stare at him.

"I'm not going to ask you again," he says.

"Are you sure you don't want to go down to our room? I bet Hannah's wondering where you are," I say. Guthrie groans.

"She knows where I am. Now I want to know where you two snuck off to today."

"I went to help a rodeo hand," Guthrie says.

"You? Just you by yourself?" Adam asks.

Guthrie doesn't answer for a minute and then he says, "yes."

"You mean you guys weren't even together when you snuck off?!" Adam yells.

"Would it be better if we were?" I ask. Guthrie kicks my foot a little with his foot.

Adam just glares at me and says, "where were _you_ today?"

"With Guthrie?"

"I'm not playing around here!" He yells. "You'd better tell me right now where you were today or I'm gonna...,"

"I was with Nancy!" I blurt out really fast. I do _not_ want him to finish that sentence!

"I am so disappointed with both of you!" Adam yells. Then he yells something else but my brain can't hear it because I'm too busy thinking. I guess it wasn't really worth it to sneak off just to help Nancy with the horses. It was fun, but I think Adam's super mad. We shouldn't have done it. But then I think about the puppy. I wonder if Adam will let me keep it. Maybe he'll say...I feel Guthrie jab me in my side with his elbow.

"Ow!"

"Don't do that to her!" Adam yells to Guthrie. Then he looks at me and says, "well?"

Hmmm. Well what? I look at him and I can tell he's waiting for me to say something but I don't know what. I whisper as quietly as I can, "Guthrie, what does he want me to say?"

"I can hear you!" Adam yells.

"But I don't know what you want me to say!" I yell.

"That's because you weren't listening!" He yells.

"Because sometimes it's too hard to! My brain can't hear you!" I yell.

Guthrie groans and says, "how come your brain never tells you to shut up?"

That makes me mad so I shove Guthrie off the bed and onto the floor.

"Hey!" He yells. He gets up fast and I can tell he's gonna push me so I get ready to push him back, but Adam is faster than both of us. He's up and in between us as he holds us apart from each other by being in the middle. Then he picks me up and puts me at the head of the bed and he moves Guthrie to the foot of the bed.

"Stay there! Both of you!" He yells and then he sits on the other bed and looks at us.

Nobody says anything and the puppy starts crying. I look at Adam and he says, "_why_ is there a dog in the bathroom?"

"It's not a dog, it's a puppy," I tell him. "I got him today at the fairgrounds."

"I told her you wouldn't let her keep him," Guthrie says so I stick my tongue out at him and he does the same back to me.

"How did he get _here_?" Adam asks.

I stare at him and don't say anything so Guthrie says, "Evan brought him back here."

Adam stares at me and says in his serious voice, "you're taking him back."

"I don't want to. How come I can't keep him?"

"You're not keeping him," he says.

"Please can I? I really, really want him!"

"Guthrie go wait out in the hall for us," Adam says.

Guthrie gets up and walks to the door and I look at Adam and ask, "why is he going out there, and we're staying in here?"

"Because I want to talk to you alone," he says.

"Why?"

"To make sure you're really listening to me."

"I always listen to you," I tell him.

"Come here."

"Why? I'm sitting right here across from you."

"Don't ask why! Just do it," he yells.

"I don't want to now! You're yelling!"

Adam reaches over and pulls me up so I'm standing right in front of him and he holds my hands. Then he talks in his serious voice and looks at me with his serious eyes. "I want you to listen closely to what I'm going to say." I stare in his eyes and he says, "I want you to know I am VERY disappointed you snuck off today. It was dangerous and you know that because we've already talked about this at least twice this weekend. So this makes the third time YOU'VE run off this weekend. Right?"

I nod my head and my eyes start to water because I start to feel sad that I disappointed him. "I'm sorry."

"And you knew you weren't supposed to, didn't you?"

I nod my head again. Sometimes I wish Adam wouldn't talk serious like this, it makes me feel bad I disappointed him. When he yells it's easier for my brain to just go somewhere else or for me to get mad and yell right back at him. "I'm sorry I did it," I tell him and I really mean it.

"Well, because you did it, I can't trust you. You didn't just wander off, you snuck off. You're ten now and I let you do a lot of things with Guthrie or Ford or Evan, without an adult and I won't be able to let you do that anymore."

That makes me cry. "For how long?" I ask.

"I don't know."

"Do you mean for like a week?"

"It's not like being grounded Heidi. I can't say I'll trust you after a week is up. It's going to take time for me to trust you again. You're going to have to show me I can trust you again by following the rules."

"I'm sorry! Please can't you just trust me again?" I ask.

"No. It doesn't work like that," he says. He drops my hands and cups my face in his hands and wipes my tears with his thumbs. "Let's go downstairs. Hannah's probably getting worried." He takes his hands away and stands up.

"What about the puppy?" I ask.

"What about it?"

"Can we take him to our room?"

"No. Evan wanted to take care of it, so the puppy stays here tonight. Tomorrow we're taking him back."

I follow him out of the room and into the hallway. Guthrie is sitting on the floor and he gets up when he sees us. "What's wrong?" He asks me quietly while we follow behind Adam.

"Nothing. I'm just sad."

"About what?"

"I guess about disappointing everyone," I say.

"Yeah, me too. It doesn't feel very good."

"I also wish I could keep the puppy."

"I told you Adam wouldn't let you."

"I know. I just really want a puppy so bad." I feel sorry that the puppy is alone right now. When we get back to our room Hannah is in bed reading something. I climb on the bed and sit next to her. Guthrie sits on the bed too.

"I'm sorry Hannah. I'm sorry I snuck off." I tell her.

"Me too," Guthrie says.

Hannah puts her arm around me and hugs me close to her. "I worry about you when you're off by yourself like that."

I look up at her and say, "at least you didn't have to worry about that today, because you didn't know we snuck off."

"I worry about it now," she says.

"Why?" I ask. "I'm right here."

"Because it scares me that you went off by yourself and that you'll do it again."

"Oh." I guess that's what Adam was talking about when he says he doesn't trust me. Adam tells Guthrie to get ready for bed. "Hannah? Why did you lie to me about the baby wolf going to the pet hospital?"

She looks down at me and says, "I'm sorry. I just thought it would be easier for you if you thought he was getting help."

"Well, when I found out what Brian did it made me really sad. How come you couldn't fix him?"

"I don't know how to fix a broken leg."

"But what if it wasn't broken?"

Adam sits down on the bed and says, "Heidi, you know you can't raise a wolf."

"Why did you have to make Brian shoot it? Maybe we could've helped him and then put him back out in the wild."

"I didn't 'make' Brian shoot it. He did it because it had to be done. Any of your brothers would've done the same thing," Adam says.

"I bet Ford wouldn't have."

Adam smiles and says, "you're probably right. But, the wolf was hurt. Brian said it was hurt bad and was in a lot of pain. That's why he shot it, to put it out of his misery. That's what we do on the ranch. You know that."

"Well, when I grow up I'm gonna have a _real_ pet hospital that takes care of animals. 'All' animals! Wolves, mountain lions, coyotes, and,"

"Ok!" Adam says as he smiles and messes up my hair. "I get it! Guthrie's out of the bathroom now so go get ready for bed." He lifts me up and I laugh as he sets me down.

Hannah says, "Heidi, I'd love to help you with that pet hospital someday."

"You would? That would be fun! We could have it on the ranch! We could...,"

"GO get ready for bed!" Adam yells, but I know he's not mad because his eyes are smiling. I start to open my mouth to say something but he says, "go," and points towards the bathroom so I get Crane's t-shirt I've been using as a nightshirt and go get ready for bed.

* * *

Shortly after I'm ready for bed Adam tells me and Guthrie it's time for bed. We both groan and Guthrie asks if we can stay up a little later.

"No," Adam says. "It's after eleven and it's been a long night."

I _am_ pretty tired. "What about all my questions I have about sex?" I ask. "I thought you were going to answer them tonight."

"I was, but we had _other_ things to talk about instead. We'll talk tomorrow about all your questions," he says.

I climb in bed and Adam puts the covers over me and sits down next to me. He gives me a kiss and says goodnight and I turn to face the middle of the bed and watch Hannah read next to me in bed. Adam turns off all the lights except for the one on the nightstand in between the beds. Then he walks over to Hannah and sits next to her. She puts her book down and smiles at him. Then they kiss. Yuck! I groan and they both look at me and Adam smiles and says, "close your eyes if you don't like it. I'm going to kiss my wife before I go to bed." Then he kisses her again and they hug each other.

"Did you guys sleep in the same bed during the week when me and Guthrie weren't here?" I ask. They don't answer me they just keep hugging. Then Adam gets up and goes over to his bed so I turn and face that way and watch him get in bed.

"Close your eyes," he says when he looks over and sees me staring at him. I close them for a few seconds and then I open them back up to watch him read something he got from the fairgrounds today. It has a picture of a cow on the front of it. I watch him read until my eyes feel too heavy to keep open anymore so I close them and fall asleep.

* * *

I hear people yelling. I open my eyes and sit up. I look around the room and everyone is asleep so I lay back down and close my eyes. Then I hear the yelling again. I sit up and listen. It's coming from next door. It must be Brian and Crane. They must be back from wherever they went tonight. I look at the clock. 2:15. They keep yelling and I'm not tired anymore so I get up and look at Adam. He's asleep so I walk over to our door and open it as quietly as I can. I peek out into the hallway and nobody's out there. I can still hear the yelling so I walk out and close the door quietly behind me. As I walk next door to my brothers' room I can hear the yelling get a little louder. I listen outside their door.

"She liked ME!" I hear Crane yell.

"Look _little_ brother, she was putting the moves on me all night and you know it!" Brian yells.

I turn around when I hear someone coming down the hall. "Daniel!" I yell as I run to him and he picks me up and hugs me. I haven't gotten to see a whole lot of him this weekend.

"Hi Heidi. How come you're out here? Shouldn't you be in bed asleep?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Does Adam know you're out here?" He asks.

I stare at him and then I say, "no. He's asleep." I hope I don't get in trouble for being out here.

"You should go back to your room and go to bed." He carries me to my door and sets me down.

I look up at him and say, "I don't have a key."

"That's a problem," he says and he thinks for a minute. "You can knock on the door now and wake him up."

"No! He'll be mad I'm out here!"

"I guess you can come to my room and sleep there."

"Brian and Crane are yelling at each other. That's why I'm out here. They woke me up so I came out here to see what was going on."

"Well let's go see." I follow him to his room and he opens the door with his key. "Everybody decent?" He asks as he walks in. I walk in behind him and both Brian and Crane have their pajamas on.

"What are you doing in here?" Brian asks me.

"You woke me up with your yelling," I tell him.

"Does Adam know you're in here?" Crane asks.

I stare at them and don't answer.

"Don't you think he's gonna be mad when he wakes up and finds out you're not in bed?" Brian asks.

"I didn't think about that when I left the room. I don't have a key to get back in."

"Actually," Crane says, "I'm kind of mad at you right now Heidi. You lied to us today when you and Guthrie snuck off."

"Yeah, I'm mad at you too!" Brian yells.

"I didn't come over here for you to yell at me! Adam already did that!" I yell.

"What'd you and Guthrie do?" Daniel asks.

"They snuck off at the fairgrounds. They told me and Brian they were going to be with Adam and Hannah, and they told Adam and Hannah they would be with us."

Daniel looks down at me and asks, "really?"

I smile at him and say, "yeah, it worked too until they started talking to each other later tonight."

"This isn't funny!" Brian yells and Daniel looks at him.

"Jeez, relax Brian!" Daniel says. "Why are _you_ so mad about this?"

"Because she could've been hurt, and because now I can't trust her," he says.

I whisper up to Daniel, "he thinks he's my dad now too."

"I can hear you!" Brian yells. "Get over here!"

I stand behind Daniel and ask, "why?" I don't want to go near him when he's mad. Besides he's _not_ my dad. There's only one person in charge of me and that's Adam!

"Come here," he says in a serious voice while he glares at me.

"If I were you I'd go over there Heidi," Crane says. I look at Crane and he's smiling a little. "Hey Daniel, let's go down the hall for a little bit."

"No, don't leave me with him!" I yell and try to climb up Daniel. He laughs and fights me off and then walks with Crane to the door. "You're in your pajamas Crane! You can't go out there!"

"We'll be back in a little bit," he says. After they shut the door I look at Brian.

"Are you going to come over here, or am I going to have to come get you?" He asks.

I slowly make my way towards him. When I'm near him I stop and stare.

"You and me have been butting heads all weekend," he says. "I know Adam's in charge of you and you think of him as your dad. Well, you don't just think of him like that, he 'is' your dad, but I'm in charge of you too." I start to say I don't want him to be but he doesn't let me talk. "I know I haven't always acted like a good role model for you, but that's gonna change now."

"I don't want it to change! I want you to be the same Brian you always are. The Brian that laughs when I do things wrong and tells me stories about how you did the same stuff I do and you think it's funny!"

"I don't want to do that anymore."

"Why not! I like you like that!" I yell and I start to cry.

"I don't like me like that. Heidi, I'm not trying to be your dad. I just think I should be a better role model for you because I care about you. I want you to know that."

"I do know it, and you _are_ a good role model for me. You taught me how to shoot my BB gun and fight and lots of other stuff!"

He smiles and says, "come here kid," as he grabs me and gives me a big hug. "I love you and I worry about you sometimes. You lied to me today and it's going to be hard for me to trust you now."

"That's what Adam said too. I'm sorry. But can you just let Adam do all the yelling instead of you too?"

"I guess so. I'll let him do _most_ of the yelling, but I'm still going to be disappointed when you do something wrong and I'm not going to be telling Adam to go easy on you anymore."

"Ever?" I ask while I look up at him.

"We'll see."

I'm hugging Brian when the door opens and Crane and Daniel come in. "I'm tired," Crane says. "Let's hit the hay!" He flops down on one of the beds and closes his eyes.

"Yeah I'm tired too," Daniel says as he grabs his pajamas and goes to change in the bathroom.

"Where am I gonna sleep?" I ask. Brian stands up and picks me up and carries me out of the room. When he walks over to my room I ask, "what are you doing? Adam's gonna be mad."

"Just think how mad he's gonna be if he wakes up and finds out you're not in bed," Brian says as he knocks on the door.

He has to knock for a while until Adam opens the door really fast and yells, "Heidi?" When he sees me he asks, "how come you're not in bed?! Where were you?!"

"She came next door for a little bit," Brian says. "I thought it would be best for her to come back now, instead of you waking up in the morning and finding her gone and having a heart attack."

"You would have a heart attack if I was gone? You mean you'd die?!"

"No I wouldn't die," Adam says. "But _you_ might!"

"What do you mean?" I ask while glaring at him.

Brian puts me down and says, "she's all yours big brother. I'm going to get some sleep."

"What do you mean I might die?" I ask as Brian leaves us and goes back to his room.

"Nothing! Get in here!"

I walk by him and get in bed. He comes and stands over me and says, "don't leave this room again. Stay in bed and go to sleep! You got that?!"

"Yes."

"You'd better!" He says as he gets back in his bed. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight," I say. I close my eyes and try to go to sleep but I'm not tired. "Adam, can I watch tv?"

"No."

I sigh and look over at him. His eyes are closed but I know he can't be asleep yet. "I'm hungry. Can I get something from the vending machine?"

"No."

"Can _you_ get me something from the vending machine?" He doesn't answer me. He can't be asleep already. "Adam?"

"Go to sleep!"

"It's hard to. I miss my bed. I wish I was at home."

"Me too! Especially right now! Stop talking and go to sleep!"

"I'm trying to. Will you tell me a story?"

"No."

"Please?" He doesn't answer me. "Adam?"

"What?"

"Will you tell me a story?"

"No. Quit bugging me and go to sleep."

"I can't!" I groan.

"Read something."

"Read what? I don't have a book. Will you read me something?" I look over at him and his eyes are closed. "Adam?" Either he's really asleep now, or he's ignoring me. I'm not sure which so I stop bugging him and try to go to sleep.

* * *

I feel something wet licking my face. I try to get away from it by rolling onto my side but I still feel it and now something is stepping on my head! I open my eyes and see the puppy next to me trying to lick my face. I smile and sit up and pet him.

"I thought you would want to say goodbye to him before I take him back," Evan says.

I hug the puppy and ask Adam, "do I really have to give him back?"

"Yes," he says.

I pet the puppy and say goodbye and Guthrie does the same. Then Evan takes him from me and leaves. I feel sad. "Why can't I keep him. He's so cute." I ask.

"We've already talked about that. Get up and get ready for breakfast," Adam says. "We're going to the lobby in ten minutes."

I stretch and then get out of bed. We're going home today. I listen to Adam talking to Brian. It sounds like we're going to the fairgrounds for a few hours in the morning and then coming back here to pack. I quickly get ready and we all leave the room together.

* * *

Going to the fairgrounds today was boring. The rodeo is over and we were only there for an hour or two so my brothers could talk to some guys about our ranch. I don't know what they were talking about because it was stuff I didn't understand. Guthrie and I had to stay with them too. After that we went to our hotel to pack.

It didn't take long to throw everything in my bag and for everyone else to pack. Then we loaded up the truck and jeep. Evan and Ford are staying at the fairgrounds until dinnertime so they're going back home with Evan's class. Daniel is going back with his band later today. Adam says we still have about an hour before we have to check out of the hotel so we go back to the room.

"Hey Brian, why don't you take Guthrie into your room so Hannah and I can talk with Heidi for a while," Adam says.

"What about?" I ask. "What'd I do now!"

"Nothing. I just thought this would be a good time to answer those questions you have," he tells me.

"I'm outa here!" Guthrie says and he leaves with Brian and Crane to go to their room.

"Why don't you sit here Heidi," Hannah says as she points to the bed, "and Adam and I will sit here." They both sit across from me on the other bed and I stare at them.

"First let's start with what you know about sex."

"I know Brian likes to have it," I say and I smile really big at him.

I hear Hannah laugh a little bit.

"That's not what I mean. Are you going to take this seriously, or should we talk about this some other time? Like when you're twelve?" Adam asks.

"Ok, I'll be serious." I get up on the bed and sit cross legged. I put my hands in my lap and stare at him while trying not to smile. "Ready."

He glares at me and says, "what do you know?"

"Just what you've told me. Sex is how babies are made. How come a girl doesn't get pregnant _every_ time she has sex?"

Hannah answers that question. "Because our bodies don't work that way."

"What way?"

Hannah looks a little nervous and says, "well, a woman's eggs aren't...,"

I have to interrupt her, "a woman's what?!"

Hannah looks at Adam and asks, "she doesn't know about..,"

Adam interrupts her. "No, we never went into detail. She's ten."

I look at Hannah. "A woman has eggs?! Inside her?!" When she smiles at me and nods her head I laugh. "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard! You have eggs inside of you? Do I?" I start laughing. "You mean I've got a bunch of chicken eggs inside of me?" I look at my stomach. Then I think about that for a minute and put my head up and glare at Adam and Hannah. "You're supposed to be answering my questions for real! Not just making stuff up!" I fold my arms across my chest. "I know for a _fact_, babies don't come out of their mom's stomach in a shell!"

Adam starts rubbing his forehead with his hand and Hannah looks even more nervous. "No Heidi, they're not chicken eggs. A woman has..., um..., well, a woman...," she looks at Adam and says, "she really doesn't know any of this stuff?"

"She's ten!" Adam says. "I talked about this stuff with the boys when they were twelve. You know, when the school teaches them about sex ed in sixth grade. I just answered their questions and explained whatever they didn't understand."

"Heidi, Adam and I need to talk for just a minute alone," Hannah tells me as she stands up and walks to the door. Adam follows her and they go out in the hallway and shut the door.

I immediately get up and run to the door to listen.

"What should we tell her?" Hannah asks Adam.

"As little as possible!" Adam says. "Now that you're talking about eggs, I don't know _what_ to tell her that won't confuse her even more."

"I'm sorry," Hannah says. "I've never had to do this before."

"I know. I'm not mad at you. I don't know what to say either."

They're quiet now and then Hannah says, "what should we tell her about the condom?"

The what? What's a condom?

"We could tell her it really _is_ a balloon," Adam suggests and I hear them laugh a tiny bit.

So the balloon thing is called a condom. I wonder what it does or what it's for?

"This is so frustrating!" Adam says. I can just see him putting his arms up in the air when he says that. "Why did Brian have to have those girls over to the house! And why'd he have to bring all those condoms with him!"

Hannah says, "just be glad he did. Can you imagine how many kids he might have if he didn't use those."

They laugh about that for a little bit and then they're quiet again while I think about what they just said. What are they talking about?

"We'd better get back in there," Adam says.

"But we still don't know what to tell her," Hannah reminds him.

"Let's just keep it simple. We'll tell her as little as we can."

I jump when one of them knocks on the door. After I open it Adam asks, "were you listening to us?"

"No!"

"You sure did open the door really fast for someone who didn't have their ear pressed to the door," he says. "What did you hear?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Nothing."

"Go sit," he says while pointing to the bed. We all go back to where we were sitting before they went out in the hall.

They look at me and don't say anything.

"Well?" I ask.

Adam clears his throat and says, "Heidi, pretty soon your body is going to be going through some changes."

"What kind of changes? All of a sudden my stomach is gonna have eggs in it?" I glare at him.

He sighs. "No. Just changes. You're going to start feeling different and you're body is going to feel different."

"Different how?" I ask.

"That's harder to explain to you," Adam says. "You're just not old enough yet to understand things about your body."

"I'm ten. That's old enough."

"No it's not. You're just going to have to trust me on this," he says.

"Fine. What's a condom? And don't you dare tell me it's a balloon!"

"I knew you were listening!" Adam says.

"How come Brian would have lots of kids if he didn't have them?"

Adam sighs and starts to talk but nothing really comes out of his mouth.

"Do you remember when you were asking about protection?" Hannah asks me.

"Yes."

"A condom is protection."

"How does that help you not make a baby?" I ask. That doesn't make any sense to me. Hannah's not answering yet so I think about it. What is it for? You can fill it with water, but how would that protect you?

"Heidi, you've seen animals mating before," Adam says. "We live on a ranch and I know you've seen it lots of times."

"Yeah." I think about the last time I saw the bull mating with a cow. Wait a minute! "Ewww! That's what sex is?! You get up behind Hannah and do that to her?!"

"What?! No!" He yells. Hannah covers her face with her hands and shakes her head. "No! No! No!" Adam yells.

"Then what the heck are you talking about?!"

"Never mind! Get that picture out of your head!" He yells.

"How can I?! That's so gross!"

Adam groans and Hannah puts her hand on his arm. Then she says to him, "maybe we should go out in the hall and talk about this some more."

"Why?! She's just gonna listen and get more confused!" He says.

The cow image keeps staying in my mind. "Hey! That's how the sheep do it and the horses and...how do chickens do it?" I ask.

"Why don't we just stick to people right now," Adam says quietly. "Heidi, you've got a lot to learn and I don't think we're helping a whole lot right now." He starts saying other stuff but I'm still thinking about the animals on the ranch. Wait a minute!

"You put your, you know what, inside of her?" I ask while I point to Hannah. That makes sense. I overheard some of the boys from my class talking about that before. And that's what the animals do on the ranch. I stare at Adam and he stares at me before he says yes. "And that's how you make a baby?" I ask.

"Yes," he says.

I think some more. That's weird. "How does _that_ make a baby?"

Hannah and Adam look at each other and then he looks at me and says, "it just does."

I think about that and say, "oh, ok." I hear both of them sigh like they're relieved about something. "Then what's the condom for?" I ask.

"It protects the man and woman from having a baby," Adam says.

"How?"

"It just does," he says while looking at me hopefully.

I wonder why he's looking at me like that. "How?" I ask again and his face looks nervous again.

"Well it...you um...it goes on a man's...," he says and I interrupt him. Well it's not really interrupting since he's not really saying anything.

"I know what you're gonna say! It goes on your penis! Am I right?!" I yell.

They look at each other and then back at me and Adam nods.

I laugh. "How can you put it on? The condom is so big! I filled it with lots of water!" I think about that some more. "Is the condom like a sleeping bag for your...?" That can't be right. "Why is the condom so big and how does it fit? How do you put it on? Why is..,"

"Stop!" Adam says. "It fits and that's all you need to now right now. You don't need to now how to put it on either. You'll learn that later."

"Can you put a condom on a cow?"

"No!"

"Why does Brian like to have sex a lot?" I ask.

"He just does," Adam says.

"Do _you_ like to have it a lot?" I ask them.

"I think we're done talking," Adam says. He looks nervous again.

I smile at him and say, "you do, don't you?"

"That's private and we're not going to talk about that. Do you have any other questions that aren't about me or Hannah?"

"How come the girl animals on the ranch always try to get away from the boy animals when they try to mate? Do men like sex and women don't like it?"

Hannah answers that question. "Both men and women like to have sex."

I sigh. "I guess that makes sense. The girls Brian brought over seemed like they wanted to have sex with him."

We're all quiet after I say that.

"Any more questions?" Adam asks.

"I guess not."

"Well if you think of any more just ask us," Adam says.

"Yes," Hannah says. "You can always come talk to us about it."

"Ok. Just as long as you don't tell me any lies like when you said I have eggs inside of me. I can't believe you expected me to believe that! Wait until I tell Guthrie!"

They both look nervous when I say that.

"What?" I ask. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Hannah says. She looks at Adam and rubs his arm with her hand.

"Can we go eat lunch now?" I ask. "I'm starving!"

"Sure," Hannah says.

I get up and start walking towards the door and I look at them and see them both look at each other and sigh and then they hug each other.

I run next door and knock on the door. When Guthrie opens it I burst inside and shout, "guess what?! Hannah tried to tell me I have chicken eggs inside my stomach!"

Guthrie laughs and so do Brian and Crane.

"Chicken eggs?!" Guthrie says. "Heidi, you don't have chicken eggs inside of you! You have..,"

"Guthrie! Be quiet!" Adam, Brian, Crane and Hannah all say at the same time.

"What?" I ask. "What was he going to say?"

"Nothing!" They all say together.

"Ok, but you guys are acting strange."

"Let's go eat. I'm sure everyone's hungry," Hannah says.

"Starved!" Crane says.

We all walk down the hallway together and Brian picks me up.

"Brian, I guess I did have a fun week with you. Hey! Your teeth aren't black anymore!"

He smiles and says, "I know. And don't think I've forgotten about getting you guys back. I will, and when you least expect it!"

I smile back at him. It was a fun week and a fun weekend, but I'm looking forward to going home and being back on the ranch. I missed my family. Even this weekend, I missed Daniel, Evan and Ford since they were so busy doing other things. I can't wait until we're all back at the ranch and home again.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and please review. Reviews help encourage me to write and update faster and I really had a lot of fun writing this story. I hope everyone liked it and will keep reading my stories.**

**Thank you Mogs for always reviewing, I always look forward to your reviews, and to my Irish Friend, thank you for your reviews. I hope you liked how I portrayed Brian in this story. Thank you to my other reviewers as well.**


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